INQUIRER Sports

HOLLYWOOD — Caught in a chorus of clicking cameras, Manny Pacquiao thought long and hard before answering a question posed by California celebrity Mario Lopez.

Who do you want to play you if a movie on your life was made?

“Myself,” Pacquiao finally answered, bursting out in a child-like laughter at the Wild Card gym on Wednesday.

Freddie Roach, though, should have no problem with that question. If a movie were to be made on his life, producers will have no problem looking for the lead star.

There’s a volunteer already, someone with an Academy Award nomination in his resumé.

“I’d do it in a heartbeat,” said Mickey Rourke, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in “The Wrestler” in 2008.

“I’d have to wait, though, before I take on the role, at least until I am old like Freddie,” said the actor, now 57.

Inevitably, Rourke was peppered with questions about Roach, who referred to the actor as “my best friend.”

“He’s the kind of trainer who, if you train under him, you will have to give more than a 100-percent effort,” said Rourke. “He’s passionate and strict.”

Rourke acknowledged that Roach is a huge asset for Pacquiao when the Filipino superstar faces Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14.

The battle of trainers has been a touchy issue in the Pacquiao-Cotto battle, especially after Roach predicted a Pacman victory in the first round.

Team Cotto made it clear that the two people on the ring will not include the trainers of both camps.

“Freddie Roach can say what he wants, he’s not the one who’s going to fight in the ring,” said 32-year-old Cotto trainer Joe Santiago through an interpreter Tuesday.

Rourke, who arrived wearing a gray jacket and with a toothpick tucked between his lips, turned heads when he arrived and headed straight for Pacquiao.

Rourke is set to portray the villain Whiplash in the “Iron Man” sequel.