Like Val Kilmer, he is wasting his talent. I get he damaged his reputation, but other very successful actors have done worse and still have a demand in the mainstream film circuit.
shareSo what??? He needs to pay the Bill's. I'm sure you would take shit work if it played big bucks...
shareI'm not saying I wouldn't, but he is such a talented and versatile actor and deserves much better than the crap he is offered.
shareHe's an exceptional talent....one of my all time favorites.
Unfortunately, he not only looks too bizarre to get mainstream roles anymore...but he's also too old.
It's hard enough for Hollywood titans like Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, etc....to get into good, big-budget films after a certain age...and they don't have any of the baggage, bad reputation or straight-up weirdness that Mickey has these days.
The other strange thing is...his acting style seems to have changed, along with everything else. It's like he has bought into his tough-guy image....so now, he only does those kinds of movies (plus, those are probably the only ones offered to him). He used to have a softer demeanor, voice and approach. Check out Barfly...Rumble Fish....Wild Orchid...Angel Heart....Diner....Body Heat.....Pope of Greenwich Village...even 9 1/2 Weeks. Somewhere along the way, his voice got a lot harder, and so did his role choices. Stuff like Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man.....Get Carter....Desperate Hours....White Sands, etc.
Frankly, I liked the kinder, gentler Mickey....from back in the day. When he started becoming the tough guy (on and off screen), he also started altering his voice, his face, his persona. On top of that, I'm certain he must have body dysmorphic syndrome.....because he used to be one of the coolest looking guys in film. And now....it's just sad. Like a Greek tragedy. He never saw what the rest of us saw when he looked at himself.
I wish he could get one last shot at some normalcy...and one last shot at a nice role (and sincere, artful performance) in a good, legit movie. He began his career by stealing the show in just 3 very brief scenes in Body Heat. Maybe he can close out his career in a similar fashion. But he somehow needs to figure out a look that isn't so bizarre. The wig is horrendous. Fix that....grow a light beard.....get some subtle glasses, all to give him an older, somewhat refined look....and then tone down the growly, tough-guy schtick and get back to the kind of subtle, vulnerable acting chops that made him awesome.
Part of that was the boxing. Dude was a better actor than he was a boxer. I watched one of his matches... he got pummeled. That trashed his face... the plastic surgery was needed to get it back into shape.
That also explains the growly, tough-guy schtick. He comes by it through experience.
Watch the youtube interview he does with Piers Morgan. Morgan is a shit interviewer, but Rourke shares some interesting info. Like he never wanted to be the vulnerable, leading man type that Hollywood kept trying to make him. He admits that the adulation and the fame though went to his head and he started to get demanding, thinking he had more clout than he really did.
You're right that he's a great actor. I always laugh at his appearance in The Expendables. In just one scene he out acts everybody else in the movie.
It's the scene where he shares his story about why he left military service. His gravelly voice works to perfection as it cracks with emotion over the crimes against humanity that he has committed. Stallone and co all understood they were just doing this dumb action movie. Meanwhile Rourke thinks he's in The Deer Hunter.
This is an example of Rourke's early brilliance. Just a really understated, nuanced performance. Look at even what he does just with his eyes, face and body language in this scene...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ4YB4ZFiGY
Who are these Bill guys and why does he need to pay them? I think that's something we need to get to the bottom of.
shareHe makes his truly triumphant comeback with The Wrestler, scores the lead villain in Iron Man 2, and then gets to join in on the Expendables... and then just straight into garbage straight to DVD stuff. I mean, what happened? His second chance at the absolute MAIN stream, makes 3 movies and then all of a sudden he's signing his name to anything that comes at him. It's bizarre.
shareI heard he filmed some scenes as the main villain in Seven Psychopaths, but got in a very heated fight with writer/director Martin McDonagh. His part was recast with Woody Harrelson and I guess world got around that he was still difficult.
shareHe still looked (somewhat) normal even right after Iron Man II. But then...the bottom REALLY dropped out. I even heard he had some plastic surgery specifically to look like the rugby player he was going to portray in a film...(the film got shelved, but his current face actually does resemble the features of that rugby guy). Anyway....once his looks went from really strange to downright bizarre...there went any shot at a big budget opportunity again. (He says he had an offer to be in The Irishman....but looking the way he does now, I doubt it.
shareGareth Thomas. I see no resemblance at all, in fact I always thought Rourke was a bizarre choice to potentially play that part - especially as he was already far too old.
sharehuwdj......look at the similarities in these 2 photos (minus the wig):
https://theblast.com/mickey-rourke-judgment-amex-bill/
https://extra.ie/2018/11/23/entertainment/celebrity/video-welsh-rugby-legend-gareth-thomas-talks-of-scars-of-attack
I think it's primarily in the nose. And it was definitely just a rumor that he (Rourke) wanted to make himself look more like Thomas. Ultimately...he agreed with others, he was too old for the part and backed out of the project.
Sorry, I still see no real resemblance. This could be because as a Wales supporter and movie fan in general I'm too used to each of them as individuals (if that makes any sense).
shareHe got really weird after Angel Heart for some reason. It's okay to be eccentric and being your own person in Hollywood, even if it means ditching good movie role offers, but he just got weird and adopted silly obsessions instead of honing in on his craft.
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