Mike Tyson was unaware of his cameo in The Hangover as he was 'doing drugs' at the time

For almost anyone, you'd think having a part in a major movie would be a very big deal - but not Mike Tyson.

While most would spend weeks nervously learning their lines, the former heavyweight boxing champion said he didn't even know he had a role in The Hangover until the night before.

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Speaking to Tony Robbins in 2020, Tyson said he was drinking and using drugs a lot at the time, and only became aware of his part in the 2009 film by chance when he bumped into his co-stars the night before shooting.

"I met the guys in a club, they were in the VIP section and I said, 'This is where I normally sit, nobody's normally here,'" he recalled.

"So I went in there, I'm checking these guys to see what they're doing in my section.

"It was Zach, the other guy, and he said, 'We're going to be in a movie with you.' And I said, 'Yeah? When?', and he said, 'Tomorrow.'"

He added: "And I didn't know as I was drinking and smoking back then, doing drugs, so I didn't know I was involved in the movie.

"So eventually I had to go and do the movie and it was a success."

Warner Bros.

Indeed it was, and given the story of the film (the clue is in the title if you haven't seen it), perhaps it was quite fitting that Iron Mike was too drunk and high to know he was in the movie.

And the 56-year-old didn't let up on his intake when shooting began either.

Speaking to Yahoo! Sports in 2012, he said he continued to drink and do drugs throughout.

"I was a mess. I was overweight. I was a pig, high on cocaine," he admitted.

"They had to know I was messed up. I couldn't talk. I had the cocaine talk."

Since then, Tyson has turned his back on cocaine and alcohol - and got into weed in a major way.

Instagram/Mike Tyson

Tyson now has his own cannabis line, Tyson 2.0, and he wishes the drug had become a bigger part of his life earlier.

In fact, he wishes he'd smoked it his whole career.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance in October, he said: "My life was just miserable, I was out of control. I was fighting with everybody. If someone asked me for an autograph, I'd punch them in the face.

"I was just a mess, and then after I retired, I started smoking. What a mistake that was - I should have smoked my whole career. I should have smoked when I was fighting because it put me in this different state of mind.

"I'm very relaxed and the more relaxed you are, the better fighter you are at least in my case."

Topics: Celebrity, Mike Tyson, Sport, TV and Film, Drugs

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey