Mickey Rourke as Genghis Khan?!

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(via Totalfilm)

Let it never be said that Mickey Rourke is one to shy away from a scrap.

Fresh from action-packed roles in Iron-Man 2 and The Expendables, Rourke is set to play Asian warlord Genghis Khan in John Milius’ forthcoming biopic.

Whilst official confirmation has yet to emerge, Rourke sounds pretty sure the role is his, telling the Orlando Sentinal he’s keen to start work with Conan helmer Milius.

“I read his script and you know, the man is known for his tough writing,” says Rourke. “He wrote Conan and Dirty Harry and Apocalypse Now and it’ll be interesting to see how he works behind the camera. I’m playing Genghis.”

Sounds fairly promising to us, but how will Mickey’s creaking limbs hold-up against what promises to be a physically gruelling role? After all, didn’t old Genghis spend much of his war-making days on horseback?

Not a problem, as far as Rourke’s concerned. “I rode quite a bit, back in the day,” he says. “The horseback riding won’t be too much of a problem. I probably ride a horse better than I drive a car. There’s going to be some archery from horseback called for that I have to do, so that’ll be interesting.”

Naturally, an interview with Mickey can only go so long without taking a turn for the bizarre, and sure enough, he goes on to claim the apparent selling-point of the role was Genghis’ renowned affection for man’s best friend.

“One of the things I like about Genghis Khan was his love of dogs,” he says. “The Mongols used dogs in battle, and dogs rarely made it out of the battle. But in one instance, in this script, he orders his men (to), ‘hold the dogs back.’ He was looking out for the dogs. I like that.”

Warrior, rider, dog-lover…sounds like this one was tailor-made for Big Mick. With no official word on casting as yet, let’s just hope he’s not getting ahead of himself.