MICKEY ROURKE: THE FALL...
11/17/08This post is contributed by Connie Corcoran Wilson. She is the author of five books (Training the Teacher As A Champion, Performance Learning Systems, Inc.; Both Sides Now, AuthorHouse; Ghosts of Route 66: Vol. I, Quixote Press; It Came from the ‘70s, Baer Press; Out of Time, Lachesis Publishing).
***
From a start working as a bouncer at an L.A. transvestite club while Mickey Rourke auditioned for “Body Heat” (1981), he gained a fervent fan following.much of it female. Said Rourke in the November 7th Entertainment Weekly interview, “That was when the whole pretty, sexy thing came about, which I resented. I never saw myself that way and I ran from it like wildfire. I don’t know why. I....don’t.....know....why.”
Rourke the actor wanted to be respected for the talent he undeniably possessed.
When shooting “Angel Heart” opposite Robert DeNiro in 1987, Rourke chose to clutch an ice cube in his fist the entire time they played their confrontational scene. The director, Alan Parker, said, “It was electric to watch,” but Parker has also noted, “Working with Mickey is a nightmare. He is very dangerous on the set because you never know what he is going to do.”
One of the things he did do was to walk from a film when the director refused to allow one of his four Chihuahuas to appear onscreen. He also earned a note from Barbet Schroeder saying he (Schroeder) would never speak to him again, after Rourke inexplicably dropped out of a project that they had been working on for two years, no explanation given.
Prior to that, Schroeder had said of Rourke’s talent: “He was magical, the greatest of his generation.” Schroeder also called him petty and self-destructive. There is no question that Rourke’s break-up from Carre Otis (after which she spiraled into heroin addiction) was a huge factor in his downfall.
In the Rourke “Entertainment Weekly” inteview (November 7, 2008), he showed the interviewer a picture of his beautiful brunette ex-wife, wearing a white t-shirt and said, “Thirteen years ago, this was the most important thing in my life.” Rourke added, “Carre was thunder and lightning. We both came from very damaged backgrounds. We had some of the greatest times in the world and some of the most painful times in the world.”
Some of Rourke’s problems arose while Otis was hooked on heroin. Says Rourke (Entertainment Weekly, Nov. 7, 2008): “I spent a long time dealing with getting my wife off heavy drugs. And I got myself into some s***, putting some people in the hospital who were giving her drugs. So I lost movies over that. But it was my wife! If you’re going to give somebody in my family bad drugs, you’re gonna’ deal with me. I’m not going to say, ‘No, I’m an actor.’ I could have dealt with it differently, but I didn’t.”
This was the period when Rourke was sleepwalking through movies just for the money. As he told EW, “I’d do some piece of s*** just for the money and then show up late and f*** everything up. More than half the movies I’ve made, I didn’t want to do. I bought a house that was way too expensive ($5 million, by some estimates), cars, entourage, women, and jewelry. If you ain’t ever had it, once you get it, y ou spend it as quick as you can. Simple as that. I ain’t never seen no Brinks truck at a funeral, and there ain’t gonna’ be one at mine.”
Some of the movies Rourke made, like “Double Team” (1997) where he co-starred with Jean Claude VanDamme and Dennis Rodman were drek. In “Bullet, (1995), Rourke became close friends with co-star Tupac Shakur. A few redeeming roles came his way, such as the small one as Bruiser Stone in Francis Ford Coppola’s direction of John Grisham’s book “The Rainmaker,” or the bookie in “Buffalo 66” (1998), Vincent Gallo’s directorial debut.
But, overall, Mickey made another bad decision that would alter his life forever. “I had to go back to boxing because I was self-destructing. I had no respect for myself being an actor, so I went back into a profession which really humbled me.” He had won 26 amateur boxing matches in 4 years in the 1970’s.
But this was the 90s and Mickey Rourke was no longer a kid. He was 35 years old. Surgeries would be needed to fix broken noses (cartilage removed from behind his ear, etc.). His neurologist blew the whistle on the constant battering Rourke was taking just 4 fights before a big match, when he told the aging boxer, “Mickey, how much are they paying you? Look at your tests. You won’t be able to count the money.” Of course...sadly, not in as having too much money.
Mickey retired from the ring and began the therapy he hoped would help him silence his demons and regain screen stardom.
Reader Comments (2)