When Mickey Rourke accepted his Best Actor award at last year's Independent Spirit Awards for The Wrestler, he took the opportunity to remind the film community of another aging bull out there who deserves a second chance at cinematic glory. While the camera cut to a very embarrassed Roberts, Rourke declared, "Eric Roberts is probably the best actor I ever worked with, and I don't know why in the last fifteen years, ain't nobody give him a chance to show his shit again ... Eric Roberts is the fuckin' man." While the 53-year-old actor (and brother to Julia) probably won't be collecting industry hardware anytime soon, a quick trip to his IMDb page will show you he's hardly out of work. Starting September 18, you can see him as a mogul with a heart of gold in the series Crash, a spin-off of the Oscar-winning film. After that, he'll play a corrupt CIA specialist in Sly Stallone's Arnold-less action opus The Expendables. Here is the "the fuckin' man" on falling in love with a wrestler, getting embarrassed by The Wrestler, and giving makeup tips to Heath Ledger.

Can you tell me about the character you play in Crash? I’m not going to talk about Crash today.

I know you play a character named Seth, right? Seth Blanchard, the richest guy in America, twenty eight billion bucks. He’s going to bring pro football back to L.A. He has a vision. I can’t talk about that vision, but I can tell you that he takes a left turn into another life and decides he’s going to build a city for the homeless.

I didn’t expect that. When I hear Eric Roberts is playing a mogul, I automatically think the guy is going to be a prick. Yeah sure, of course you did. I just finished playing a prick for Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables. I play a rogue CIA agent cooperating with a Noriega-style drug lord. I’ve got this guy by the balls and he’s got me by the balls, so we’re holding each other captive by the balls.

Is this movie going to be as gory as Stallone’s latest Rambo movie? No, it’s not gross like that. It’s poignant splatter.

Did you make any new friends on set? Steve Austin is my new best friend, pal. I’m dead serious. We fell in love with each other on the first day of shooting. He’s so cool, and he’s gonna be a real actor brother, it’ll blow your mind!

Speaking of great friends, how did you feel when Mickey Rourke called you out at last year’s Independent Spirit Awards? I was embarrassed, but I was also very flattered. It’s embarrassing to have to kindness overflow out of the microphone and spew all over you. He’s in The Expendables, too. He plays a bad motherfucker.

As someone who was once nominated for an Oscar, did you have any advice for Mickey before the ceremony? Wallow in it dude, just fuckin’ wallow in it. It’s so much fun. Everybody acts so silly about it -- it gets so blown out of proportion. It’s just a gas, you know? And everywhere you go it’s, “good luck Mr. Roberts, and good luck Mr. Rourke.” For a few weeks you’re the shit.

What about you? Are you in search of a Rourke-style resurrection? That’s a huge question and I don’t have a big enough answer for it. But I can tell you this, everything is cyclical and all you can do is whatever you can do and when it all gets said and done, it’s all said and done. Besides, they overpay all of us.

You had a supporting role in The Dark Knight. How did you feel when Heath Ledger suddenly passed away? I didn’t worry about the film because the film was bigger than his death. On set I remember being told, “You can’t approach Heath, because he is in character.” And I’m like, “Fuck that. Hey Heath, how you doing?” And then he just said “Great, how was that last take? I wasn’t comfortable with that.” I’m like, “I thought it was great dude.”

Is he talking to you in his Joker voice or is he talking to you in his normal voice with his accent? In his regular voice with his accent.

What was your reaction when you first saw him come out in full costume and makeup? I said, “You should fix your lipstick.” And he winked.

Do you think Chris Nolan intended for his character to appear in the third film? You have to ask the boss. The boss and his brother are the guys to ask that question.