I have to admit, watching Mickey Rourke on Celebrity Big Brother was… jarring. He’s always been a captivating actor, but honestly, the combination of his plastic surgery and that hairpiece just didn’t work. It was a little unsettling, and he ended up looking more like a scary doll than the heartthrob he once was. It was a real shame, to be honest.
Not that it affected his swagger.
Okay, so this guy on set actually told JoJo Siwa – yes, *the* JoJo Siwa – that if he spent more than four days with her, she wouldn’t be gay anymore. Can you believe it? Honestly, it was a really inappropriate and frankly, bizarre thing to say. JoJo, being the amazing person she is, handled it with grace and politely turned him down. It just highlights how important it is to be respectful of everyone’s identity and boundaries, and to remember that attraction isn’t something you can *change* in someone else.
After a profanity-laced rant and a hateful slur, the actor-who had previously tried boxing and then returned to acting-was fired once more. This was just the latest setback in a career filled with both great successes and disappointing failures.
Today, Rourke is 73 years old, and like his aging house in Beverly Hills, he’s not doing as well as he once was. A former colleague described him as a deeply damaging person.
The Daily Mail recently published exclusive photos of the actor, showing him briefly leaving his home – a rare sighting since he left a reality show on ITV. He’s reportedly been staying inside and is currently involved in a legal dispute with the show over payment.
According to People magazine, the star’s manager said that despite knowing he had a reputation as a bit of a troublemaker, the show publicly humiliated him and is now refusing to pay him his complete salary.
The debacle is a lifetime away from Rourke’s iconic turn in the 1986 drama ‘9½ Weeks.’
At 34, actor Richard Gere was a rising Hollywood star, and his role as John Gray, a powerful Wall Street broker, showcased his charisma. The film depicted Gray seducing and leading Elizabeth, a reserved art gallery worker played by Kim Basinger, into an increasingly adventurous lifestyle in New York City.
His sharp and often harsh words, combined with a chaotic personal life and unpredictable behavior, ultimately ruined what had once been a promising career.
According to Bruce Rubenstein, who used to produce films with Mickey Rourke, Rourke could still be enjoying a successful career like George Clooney or Tom Cruise even at his age. Rubenstein believes this would have been possible if Rourke hadn’t had cosmetic surgery and made smarter career choices.
He was an incredibly gifted actor, truly one of the best of his generation. However, despite his talent, he was also an extremely difficult and damaging person to be around.
Throughout the 1980s, memorable performances in films like ‘Diner’, ‘Barfly’, and ‘Body Heat’ showcased his natural charisma, leading critics to compare him to iconic actors James Dean and Marlon Brando.
Similar to Dean, Mickey developed his acting skills at the renowned Actor’s Studio and quickly gained a reputation as a nonconformist.
During a workshop, acting coach Lee Strasberg critiqued a student’s work, and the 20-year-old reacted by angrily leaving and never coming back.
His tendency to be erratic and unpredictable increasingly distanced him from Hollywood, a place that valued charm and sentimentality.
Producer Xochi Blymyer, who worked with the actor on the 1989 film ‘Johnny Handsome’, remembers that he was always pleasant to her, but she often overheard him shouting at other people over the intercom in his trailer.
It was mostly minor acts of defiance, like wearing an inappropriate shirt in a scene and stubbornly refusing to change it, even though it created a continuity error. The director, Walter Hill, would just shrug it off and say, ‘Alright, we’ll make it work then.’
His difficult upbringing, marked by abuse from his stepfather, deeply affected him. To protect himself, he turned to boxing, and he later used the pain of those experiences to fuel his powerful and realistic acting.
Sometimes, his career has felt like it was fading away, damaged by a series of puzzling decisions that hurt his reputation.
The 1990 film ‘Wild Orchid’ brought Mickey Rourke and writer Zalman King, who previously collaborated on ‘9½ Weeks,’ together again with the hope of creating a similarly stylish and sensual experience. However, critics dismissed it as exploitative soft-core pornography, and both Rourke and his 21-year-old co-star, Carré Otis (who later became his wife), were nominated for Razzie Awards.
The story moved the intimate scenes to Rio de Janeiro, where James Wheeler, a businessman played by 38-year-old Mickey Rourke, became infatuated with Emily, a lawyer portrayed by Otis, though her character wasn’t very believable.
Everyone was buzzing about two things: rumors of an explicit sex scene on a Persian rug – which both actors have denied – and actor Robert Downey Jr.’s noticeably fuller cheeks.
According to Rubenstein, a former assistant producer on the film, it was a terrible, unwatchable script – the worst thing he’d ever read.
My three months in Brazil were confusing, but I quickly realized things were falling apart for him. It was like one event triggered a chain reaction, and he lost control, particularly after his facial surgery.
Rourke initially said the swelling in his face was caused by dental work. However, Rubenstein insists it was actually from a boxing session with world champion Tommy ‘The Hitman’ Hearns at Rourke’s gym.
I’ll never forget hearing about what happened to Tommy Hearns’ opponent. Apparently, Hearns had these incredibly powerful hands and a legendary left hook – seriously, he’d knocked out so many top fighters. Just two weeks before filming was supposed to start, that punch really messed up the leading man’s face. It was a brutal hit that left a lasting impression, literally!
‘I heard the crack and saw him drop to his knees and his cheek miles out,’ recalls Rubenstein.
I have to remind you, the film was already in the early stages of development. Mickey strictly forbade me from mentioning anything to anyone, because we could have faced a massive lawsuit. Naturally, I followed his orders – he was my boss. But I’ll never forget arriving in Brazil and seeing the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces when they saw him.
Producer Blymyer, having also been involved in the film, recalls that Rourke was easier to work with on set this time compared to when they filmed ‘Jonny Handsome’.
According to Blymyer, he arrived prepared, knew all his lines, and was a great help to Otis with her performance. He also had a very charming personality.
It was a deceptively peaceful moment, foreshadowing the difficulties to come. Their six-year marriage was well-known for being troubled, marked by both domestic violence and Otis’s struggle with heroin addiction.
Rourke was arrested on suspicion of spousal abuse in 1994 – though the charges were later dropped.
After the movie *Wild Orchid* didn’t succeed commercially, a discouraged Robert Downey Jr. left acting and pursued a new career as a professional boxer for three years.
He always seemed to be battling his feelings about Hollywood, constantly walking the line between being a popular, rebellious actor and someone unpredictable and difficult to control.
Let me tell you, back in 1994, I was on UK’s ‘The Word’ and I didn’t hold back! I was at my California boxing gym, and honestly, I was pretty blunt about actors. I just wasn’t a fan – I thought they were, well, let’s just say I didn’t have a high opinion of them. I said what I thought, and it definitely caused a stir!
‘I met Warren Beatty, and he was one of the creepiest puke asses I’d ever met in my life.’
I’ve gotten into so many conflicts with people in Los Angeles that I’m essentially ostracized. My reputation is intimidating to those at the studios, but I’m hoping someone brave enough will be willing to work with me.
He would have a long wait.
Despite famously rejecting roles in acclaimed films like ‘Rainman’ and ‘Platoon’, and losing a $20 million fortune, the actor hadn’t found success again by 1997. His attempt at a comeback with the direct-to-video release ‘Another 9½ Weeks’ was a failure.
But Hollywood loves a comeback story.
The Wrestler in 2007 was the pitch perfect vehicle for the star sidelined for 15 years.
Oh my gosh, you guys, it’s just…Randy Robinson, played by this actor, was incredible! He *became* this washed-up wrestler, and it wasn’t just a performance. He really dug deep, used his own life experiences, and showed this heartbreaking vulnerability. Everyone thought he deserved the Oscar, seriously! It wasn’t just acting, it *was* Randy, and it was perfect. I still get chills thinking about it!
Unfortunately, his brief comeback didn’t last, and his turn to reality TV disappointed many of his longtime supporters and colleagues.
It’s no surprise someone who refused to follow the rules in Hollywood wouldn’t conform in the Big Brother house – and that might be exactly what viewers wanted to see.
Despite being surrounded by performers past their prime and those still trying to make it, he was supposedly the main attraction, even though his face had changed dramatically.
Even at 73, he still refuses to act his age, and it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to overcome this latest challenge.
Will Robert De Niro’s character, Rourke, be able to revive his career? If he does, it will need a daring filmmaker and an extraordinary role to make it happen.
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2025-09-17 01:21