02 December 2023 , 08:41
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He's the rugby league hardman who partied with Hollywood star Mickey Rourke after a Challenge Cup final and is now a film actor himself.
But the former St Helens prop Keith Mason has revealed it was the sport that rescued him from his own real-life crime story unfolding. His autobiography Against All Odds lifts the lid on just how close the former Wales forward came to falling off the rails completely.
Mason, who also played for Wakefield, Huddersfield, Castleford and Melbourne before retiring in 2013, said: "Not many people know but when I was a young kid I was kicked out of five schools.
"I was a persistent youth offender; I got arrested more than 50 times and went to court 45 times before I was 15. Going on to have the career I did was a miracle: I just feel like I’m a walking contradiction. Growing up on Dewsbury Moor, which is a council area, and coming from a single mum, every time I left the house I’d end up in trouble.
"I’d be with my mates, there weren't many dads about and no discipline. But rugby league was a way out for me: it saved my life. Against All Odds is me, representing people from the bottom. That’s where I came from. I didn’t go to public school, didn’t get everything given from mummy and daddy. I had to work my a*** off."
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Mason first met Rourke in a London hotel bar after Huddersfield’s 2009 Wembley loss to Warrington. But he infamously missed a training session a few days later to carry on partying with the film star and got dropped. However, it was Rourke who gave him his chance in acting - one of many current strings to his bow.+
Mason, 41, said: "I’ve a few businesses now. I’ve just landed my second lead role in a film called The Chosen where I play an Irish detective. And Imperative - now called The Punished in America - is a gritty Yorkshire film I did.”
Keith Mason in action for St Helens against Huddersfield in 2005 (PA) (PA)Do you remember Keith Mason in rugby league? Let us know in the comments below!
Due out in the new year, Mason’s book details the controversial court case which saw him win £167,000 damages from Huddersfield. It was ruled the club unlawfully dismissed him when a photo of Giants team-mate Scott Moore’s bottom appeared on his Twitter account after a heavy boozing session. Yet Mason, whose son Lukas is on Wigan’s books, admitted: "Looking back I didn’t want to retire when I did.
"But I was going through a lot. I lost my licence, wasn’t seeing my kids, then I was in debt. It was one thing after another. My mental health was depleted. I suffered from depression and alcoholism. I was lost.
"It took me a lot of dark days to get to where I am now. But when I won that court case, Mickey Rourke gave me a call a week later and said ‘do you want to be in a film?’ It’s mad how it works out. Hopefully this book inspires people: If you don’t give up there’s magic at the other end."