It's who you know: Rourke brought Springsteen to 'The Wrestler'

Here's a benefit to casting Mickey Rourke in your film: He's pals with Bruce Springsteen.

In the below clip, released by Fox Searchlight, Rourke discusses recruiting Springsteen for the Darren Aronofsky film "The Wrestler." "I'm kinda friends with Springsteen," Rourke says. Springsteen's song graces the film's end credits, and is up for a Golden Globe this weekend.

"The Wrestler" is adding to the massive media campaign surrounding Springsteen's "Working on a Dream," due to be released Jan. 27. Today, the artist began offering free downloads in Guitar Hero and on Amazon.com, Billboard reported, and the artist has a date at the Super Bowl on Feb. 1. With "The Wrestler," Springsteen is an early favorite to score an Oscar nom on Jan. 22.

As we've noted before, there's no doubting Springsteen's appeal to academy voters -- he's already won, for "Streets of Philadelphia" in 1993. In "The Wrestler," Springsteen contrasts plaintive guitar strumming with prideful, street-tough lyrics, and you can hear a glimpse in the below clip, which is designed to sell the tune to academy voters. Rourke and Aronofsky play up the way the song ties in with the film -- the rough imagery of broken bones and one-legged dogs helps -- but the promo film lacks one thing: Springsteen himself.

The song will be included on Springsteen's "Working on a Dream."

Related: From metal to ambiance: Clint Mansell taps Slash for 'The Wrestler'

-- Todd Martens