![]() ![]() Getting noticed next to Katheleen Turner and William Hurt was an impressive feat. His first film role was a brief appearance as an arsonist in Body Heat (1981). Rourke moved to New York and joined the Actors Studio, where he quickly wowed everyone with his talent. “I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, but I loved it.” ![]() While recovering, he played a small part in a play by Jean Genet at the University of Miami. After two concussions and a broken shoulder, doctors forced him to take a breather. He took refuge in boxing and tried to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Muhammad Ali. He grew up in a tough neighborhood in Miami – his father abandoned him when he was little and he was abused by his mother’s second husband, a violent police officer. Rourke was attracted to boxing before movies. (l-r) Mickey Rourke, Ray Mancini and Matt Dillon in 1985. Rourke also turned down roles in Platoon, The Untouchables and Pulp Fiction. He got a call from Dustin Hoffman to co-star in Rain Man, which won four Oscars in 1988, including Best Picture – Tom Cruise ended up saying yes. Coppola had also offered him one of the leading roles in The Outsiders, but he turned it down.Īn actor is shaped by both the roles he accepts and the ones he rejects – and the list of hits Rourke has said “no” to is shocking. Rourke portrayed a poetic and ghostly character, color blind and half-deaf. When Rourke visited the set of The Outsiders, he had already played a mythical role as The Motorcycle Boy in Rumble Fish (1983), a beautiful flop by Francis Ford Coppola, beloved by critics but ignored by the general public. I just hope I can learn from them,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “I’ve had great moments in some movies, roles that most actors out there couldn’t play in their entire lives. What cut short his promising career? The pop culture website Vulture spoke to many of the people who dealt with him throughout his life and the answer is clear: Rourke’s biggest problem has been – and remains – Rourke. Gone are the days when The Los Angeles Times defined him as “a young Hollywood lion, an actor with the melancholic intensity of Marlon Brando the electricity of James Dean.” Mickey Rourke gives the middle finger to the camera, in 1985. Rourke’s face has been completely changed by plastic surgery. I’d never heard of him, but they adored him as if he were the son of Laurence Olivier and Jesus Christ.” The other actors pointed and whispered, ‘It’s Mickey Rourke!’ ‘Who?’ I asked. He had long, dirty hair, stubble and torn, stained leather pants. “A man – who looked like he was homeless – walked on set. In his autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Rob Lowe recalls his first meeting with Mickey Rourke, during the filming of The Outsiders (1983). ![]()
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