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Mickey Rourke
- Thread starter piflacoco
- Start date
November 7, 2011
Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger reuinte on the set of Black Gold, during re-shoots in LA. They've been cast as last-minute character additions in Black Gold also staring Freida Pinto and Antonio Banderas.
ego.globo.com
isopix.be (X17online.com)
Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger reuinte on the set of Black Gold, during re-shoots in LA. They've been cast as last-minute character additions in Black Gold also staring Freida Pinto and Antonio Banderas.
ego.globo.com
isopix.be (X17online.com)
Last edited by a moderator:
'Immortals' co-star Mickey Rourke immortalized
Thursday, 11.10.11
By RICK BENTLEY
McClatchy Newspapers
LOS ANGELES - Mickey Rourke recently joined the likes of Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor by placing his hand and feet prints in the cement outside the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.
But the honor pales compared to what else has happened to him in recent years, says Rourke, who star in the new action film "Immortals."
"I'm honored, I guess, to a degree. But what I've been through in my life, it's anti-climatic. Just the fact that they've let me back, that I've gotten back in the business, is reward enough for me. That's the most honest thing I can say," Rourke says, peering over a pair of dark sunglasses.
Rourke was one of Hollywood's leading men in the '80s and early '90s with films like "Diner," "Barfly," "Rumble Fish," "Angel Heart" and "9 1/2 Weeks." He admits he almost killed his career with his wild lifestyle, which included an attempt at professional boxing that ended with him needing reconstructive surgery.
He returned to the spotlight in 2005 in "Sin City," the spark that reignited an acting career highlighted by a 2008 Academy Award nomination for "The Wrestler."
Rourke has mellowed. A few years ago, he was approached about a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. He turned down the offer - in what Rourke describes in very colorful terms - when they wouldn't put his dog Loki's name on the star with him.
"I wouldn't have been as comfortable or as happy if I didn't have Loki with me. So Loki's name needed to be there, it meant the most to me. My dog was there during that hell," Rourke says of his longtime companion, who died in 2009.
The cement ceremony was held just days before the opening of "Immortals," in which Rourke plays evil King Hyperion, a ruler willing to wipe out ancient Greece to gain the power to rule the world.
To prepare, Rourke asked questions about the role: Where's the character going? Where's he coming from? What does he want? How is he going to get there? What makes him interesting? What makes him mad?
These questions help form the backstory that makes the character more three-dimensional. Rourke, who finds being nasty all the time boring, filled out the final details of the character through the vision director Tarsem Singh had for the role.
"When I met Tarsem, he'd already drawn a dozen different ideas for the look and the dress of my character. He even had a picture of a French rugby player with long hair and a beard," he says. "All I had to do was breathe, show up and hit my marks. He made it very easy for me."
Thursday, 11.10.11
By RICK BENTLEY
McClatchy Newspapers
LOS ANGELES - Mickey Rourke recently joined the likes of Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor by placing his hand and feet prints in the cement outside the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.
But the honor pales compared to what else has happened to him in recent years, says Rourke, who star in the new action film "Immortals."
"I'm honored, I guess, to a degree. But what I've been through in my life, it's anti-climatic. Just the fact that they've let me back, that I've gotten back in the business, is reward enough for me. That's the most honest thing I can say," Rourke says, peering over a pair of dark sunglasses.
Rourke was one of Hollywood's leading men in the '80s and early '90s with films like "Diner," "Barfly," "Rumble Fish," "Angel Heart" and "9 1/2 Weeks." He admits he almost killed his career with his wild lifestyle, which included an attempt at professional boxing that ended with him needing reconstructive surgery.
He returned to the spotlight in 2005 in "Sin City," the spark that reignited an acting career highlighted by a 2008 Academy Award nomination for "The Wrestler."
Rourke has mellowed. A few years ago, he was approached about a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. He turned down the offer - in what Rourke describes in very colorful terms - when they wouldn't put his dog Loki's name on the star with him.
"I wouldn't have been as comfortable or as happy if I didn't have Loki with me. So Loki's name needed to be there, it meant the most to me. My dog was there during that hell," Rourke says of his longtime companion, who died in 2009.
The cement ceremony was held just days before the opening of "Immortals," in which Rourke plays evil King Hyperion, a ruler willing to wipe out ancient Greece to gain the power to rule the world.
To prepare, Rourke asked questions about the role: Where's the character going? Where's he coming from? What does he want? How is he going to get there? What makes him interesting? What makes him mad?
These questions help form the backstory that makes the character more three-dimensional. Rourke, who finds being nasty all the time boring, filled out the final details of the character through the vision director Tarsem Singh had for the role.
"When I met Tarsem, he'd already drawn a dozen different ideas for the look and the dress of my character. He even had a picture of a French rugby player with long hair and a beard," he says. "All I had to do was breathe, show up and hit my marks. He made it very easy for me."
miamiherald.com
Mickey Rourke Talks 'Immortals'
The Oscar-nominated star is not doing Seven Psychopaths, was never doing The Expendables 2, and has some choice words about how Iron Man 2 turned out...
By William Bibbiani
November 07, 2011
CraveOnline: Have you seen ‘Immortals’ yet?
Mickey Rourke: I saw 70% of it a few months ago, without the 3D glasses, you know? I think I saw one of the cuts, but maybe not the final cut.
It’s so visual effects heavy. I imagine when you’re on the set, you’re not working with every single element that ended up in the film. How did it turn out, compared to how you thought it would be?
You don’t get bogged… The technical stuff, it doesn’t really affect you that much unless you’re f**king mindless, you know? But what I signed up for is exactly what I saw, and all I can say is the reason I did the movie is, when I read this material, from watching Tarsem’s reels and knowing his background as a very visual, techy guy… He would sort of elevate the material, transcend the material to another level, with integrity. That’s all I was looking for.
It is actually a film with a lot of integrity. They’re marketing it as this big action movie, but it’s actually…
Well, they’ve gotta make their pound of flesh back, right?
Absolutely. But I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by how complex it is from a philosophical standpoint.
I’ve told other people this. I don’t necessarily think I would have done this film if it wasn’t with a director that I instinctively… and from word of worth of mouth heard of Tarsem.
What did you hear from word of mouth?
Well, I saw his Nike commercial reel. I saw every commercial he ever did. He’s the same way as Ridley and Tony Scott. These guys, [David] Fincher and all them came out of commercials. You know they can light the s**t out of something. They’re all hooked up with the latest high tech crap, and basically what they’re going to do is they’re going to take a, let’s say a Greek mythology piece, and really give it a life of its own through their visual effects. And what I was very much pleased with was how uncomplicated it all was working with Tarsem because he was so prepared. It made my job easier, and he would give me minor adjustment and it would sort of take my performance to another level. Just with him, a little word or so he’d give me.
What kind of words would he give you?
I’ll give you an example. If I had to go over and cut somebody’s nuts off, or cut their head off, he’d go over there and talk, “Just pick up the apple and take a bite out of it and smell it before you do that.” Just little adjustments that really good directors know how to… He hired me because of the choices I make, and yet, of course I’m open to him giving me an adjustment which was intelligent. So it’s nice to work in a collaborative way, that way. And I have respect for the man. I think that’s what I can say.
I interviewed him recently. He’s brilliant.
That’s the other thing. He’s like [Darren] Aronofsky and [Robert] Rodriguez. He’s a young guy who’s got a very large brain, that loves what he does. He’s very innovative and he takes risks, and he’s very intelligent.
I got the impression that even though you’re technically the “bad guy” in the movie, that he seemed to really sympathize with your character a lot.
Well, I always try to bring that to a character. It’s like when I did Ivan Vanko in Iron Man, I fought… You know, I explained to Justin Theroux, to the writer, and to [Jon] Favreau that I wanted to bring some other layers and colors, not just make this Russian a complete murderous revenging bad guy. And they allowed me to do that. Unfortunately, the [people] at Marvel just wanted a one-dimensional bad guy, so most of the performance ended up the floor.
That’s too bad.
Well, you know, it is f**king too bad, but it’s their loss. If they want to make mindless comic book movies, then I don’t want to be a part of that. I don’t want to have to care so much and work so hard, and then fight them for intelligent reasoning, and just because they’re calling the shots they… You know, I didn’t work for three months on the accent and all the adjustments and go to Russia just so I could end up on the floor. Because that can make somebody say at the end of the day, oh f**k ‘em, I’m just going to mail it in. But I’m not that kind of guy. I’m never going to mail it in.
I could tell you didn’t mail it in on ‘Iron Man…’
No, but I’m saying it’s frustrating when that happens, when you care so much and you try so hard. At the end of the day you’ve got some nerd with a pocketful of money calling the shots. You know, Favreau didn’t call the shots. I wish he would have. And Theroux, we worked together to bring layers to that character, so, you know, I fight for that any time I’m playing like a bad guy. What made Henry Fonda so fantastic in the western that he did when he played a bad guy was what he brought to the character. All the goodness that he had in his face, or the moments that he had when he just wasn’t a one-dimensional bad guy. Because then, when he’s bad, you see that other color. You don’t want to always make him all “black.”
There’s that great bit in ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ when you can tell he doesn’t want to kill that kid but he’s forced into it.
Yeah! Sure. But you know, you’ve got to fight with these [people] all the time.
Your character of Hyperion, he’s filled with a lot of rage. And it feels like justified rage…
Well that’s what I say to everybody! I go, listen man… it’s territorial. This is his block. And you just don’t let s**t happen on your block. And when this guy, Theseus, comes over, it’s like, hey man, this guy’s over-stepping his boundaries. He’s going to have to get an *** kicking. So I look at it like it’s territorial, so it’s personal. And also it’s personal because he’s overstepping his boundaries.
Another thing I like about Hyperion is that he’s ruthless, but he’s really wise. There’s that scene at the beginning…
William, that’s what I always try to fight to get across. If you need to get a one-dimensional bad guy, you know, go get somebody out of some TV show to do the f**king thing, you know what I’m saying? I mean, you don’t need to hire me.
Well, I’m glad they hired you.
You know, back in acting school they always teach you, make bold choices and look for activities that are interesting. It doesn’t always have to be “this is the bad guy, this is the good guy.” There is justification for the measures that he takes.
And they come across very well.
I work very hard for those things to come across, but I’ve got to tell you, William, it’s always a fight. I usually lose the battle, but one of these days I’m going to do a bad guy, I hope, where they let those layers come across. I mean, you could look the great movie that Mel Gibson made, Braveheart. Now, from the other point of view he would have been a prick who was out of line. But from his people’s point of view he was justified. That’s all.
Are you still writing screenplays? Could you write a role like that for yourself?
Excuse me?
Didn’t you write a few screenplays?
Yeah, I’ve written. I’m getting ready to do one of them now, the story about the rugby player who came out and announced that he was gay. Gareth Thomas, the Welsh captain. That’s called The Beautiful Game. We’re going to shoot that in April.
That’s cool.
I also wrote a film that took me about twenty years to work on, called Wild Horses.
Is it really personal? Twenty years…
Well, yeah, I wrote it, kind of… It was about two brothers who don’t see each other for fifteen years, and then they get back together and it’s sort of a journey they go on. But there’s something going on with one of the brothers, and the journey kind of ends after a few weeks.
You signed on for ‘Seven Psychopaths…’
No, I’m not in that. The producer was a jerk-off. He wanted me to work for slave wages, and it was like… What’s his name… […] Right now, he’s no Darren Aronofsky. If I want to go to work for nothing, then, you know what I’m talking about. When I go to work, I work very, very hard, and I’m not going to give that away for free. But then again there’s the happy medium. If they want to just all go, “Oh, but In Bruges was this and that.” Well, maybe to some people, not to me. So they can play that arty-farty game with somebody else, you know what I’m saying? I’ll pick and choose who I want to go to work with for nothing. And all I can say at the end of the day is, their f**king loss.
Does that mean that you’re going to be in ‘The Expendables 2’ now? The rumors said that when you signed on to that you weren’t going to be able to do ‘The Expendables 2’ anymore.
Well, that’s another thing. Listen, I did the first one because I felt that I owed Sly a favor. He gave me a job in Get Carter when I couldn’t f**king shine my shoes, you know what I’m saying. And that was that. The other thing around that, I had never said I was going to be in it. I think the producers announced it but nobody discussed it with me.
craveonline.com
The Oscar-nominated star is not doing Seven Psychopaths, was never doing The Expendables 2, and has some choice words about how Iron Man 2 turned out...
By William Bibbiani
November 07, 2011
CraveOnline: Have you seen ‘Immortals’ yet?
Mickey Rourke: I saw 70% of it a few months ago, without the 3D glasses, you know? I think I saw one of the cuts, but maybe not the final cut.
It’s so visual effects heavy. I imagine when you’re on the set, you’re not working with every single element that ended up in the film. How did it turn out, compared to how you thought it would be?
You don’t get bogged… The technical stuff, it doesn’t really affect you that much unless you’re f**king mindless, you know? But what I signed up for is exactly what I saw, and all I can say is the reason I did the movie is, when I read this material, from watching Tarsem’s reels and knowing his background as a very visual, techy guy… He would sort of elevate the material, transcend the material to another level, with integrity. That’s all I was looking for.
It is actually a film with a lot of integrity. They’re marketing it as this big action movie, but it’s actually…
Well, they’ve gotta make their pound of flesh back, right?
Absolutely. But I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by how complex it is from a philosophical standpoint.
I’ve told other people this. I don’t necessarily think I would have done this film if it wasn’t with a director that I instinctively… and from word of worth of mouth heard of Tarsem.
What did you hear from word of mouth?
Well, I saw his Nike commercial reel. I saw every commercial he ever did. He’s the same way as Ridley and Tony Scott. These guys, [David] Fincher and all them came out of commercials. You know they can light the s**t out of something. They’re all hooked up with the latest high tech crap, and basically what they’re going to do is they’re going to take a, let’s say a Greek mythology piece, and really give it a life of its own through their visual effects. And what I was very much pleased with was how uncomplicated it all was working with Tarsem because he was so prepared. It made my job easier, and he would give me minor adjustment and it would sort of take my performance to another level. Just with him, a little word or so he’d give me.
What kind of words would he give you?
I’ll give you an example. If I had to go over and cut somebody’s nuts off, or cut their head off, he’d go over there and talk, “Just pick up the apple and take a bite out of it and smell it before you do that.” Just little adjustments that really good directors know how to… He hired me because of the choices I make, and yet, of course I’m open to him giving me an adjustment which was intelligent. So it’s nice to work in a collaborative way, that way. And I have respect for the man. I think that’s what I can say.
I interviewed him recently. He’s brilliant.
That’s the other thing. He’s like [Darren] Aronofsky and [Robert] Rodriguez. He’s a young guy who’s got a very large brain, that loves what he does. He’s very innovative and he takes risks, and he’s very intelligent.
I got the impression that even though you’re technically the “bad guy” in the movie, that he seemed to really sympathize with your character a lot.
Well, I always try to bring that to a character. It’s like when I did Ivan Vanko in Iron Man, I fought… You know, I explained to Justin Theroux, to the writer, and to [Jon] Favreau that I wanted to bring some other layers and colors, not just make this Russian a complete murderous revenging bad guy. And they allowed me to do that. Unfortunately, the [people] at Marvel just wanted a one-dimensional bad guy, so most of the performance ended up the floor.
That’s too bad.
Well, you know, it is f**king too bad, but it’s their loss. If they want to make mindless comic book movies, then I don’t want to be a part of that. I don’t want to have to care so much and work so hard, and then fight them for intelligent reasoning, and just because they’re calling the shots they… You know, I didn’t work for three months on the accent and all the adjustments and go to Russia just so I could end up on the floor. Because that can make somebody say at the end of the day, oh f**k ‘em, I’m just going to mail it in. But I’m not that kind of guy. I’m never going to mail it in.
I could tell you didn’t mail it in on ‘Iron Man…’
No, but I’m saying it’s frustrating when that happens, when you care so much and you try so hard. At the end of the day you’ve got some nerd with a pocketful of money calling the shots. You know, Favreau didn’t call the shots. I wish he would have. And Theroux, we worked together to bring layers to that character, so, you know, I fight for that any time I’m playing like a bad guy. What made Henry Fonda so fantastic in the western that he did when he played a bad guy was what he brought to the character. All the goodness that he had in his face, or the moments that he had when he just wasn’t a one-dimensional bad guy. Because then, when he’s bad, you see that other color. You don’t want to always make him all “black.”
There’s that great bit in ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ when you can tell he doesn’t want to kill that kid but he’s forced into it.
Yeah! Sure. But you know, you’ve got to fight with these [people] all the time.
Your character of Hyperion, he’s filled with a lot of rage. And it feels like justified rage…
Well that’s what I say to everybody! I go, listen man… it’s territorial. This is his block. And you just don’t let s**t happen on your block. And when this guy, Theseus, comes over, it’s like, hey man, this guy’s over-stepping his boundaries. He’s going to have to get an *** kicking. So I look at it like it’s territorial, so it’s personal. And also it’s personal because he’s overstepping his boundaries.
Another thing I like about Hyperion is that he’s ruthless, but he’s really wise. There’s that scene at the beginning…
William, that’s what I always try to fight to get across. If you need to get a one-dimensional bad guy, you know, go get somebody out of some TV show to do the f**king thing, you know what I’m saying? I mean, you don’t need to hire me.
Well, I’m glad they hired you.
You know, back in acting school they always teach you, make bold choices and look for activities that are interesting. It doesn’t always have to be “this is the bad guy, this is the good guy.” There is justification for the measures that he takes.
And they come across very well.
I work very hard for those things to come across, but I’ve got to tell you, William, it’s always a fight. I usually lose the battle, but one of these days I’m going to do a bad guy, I hope, where they let those layers come across. I mean, you could look the great movie that Mel Gibson made, Braveheart. Now, from the other point of view he would have been a prick who was out of line. But from his people’s point of view he was justified. That’s all.
Are you still writing screenplays? Could you write a role like that for yourself?
Excuse me?
Didn’t you write a few screenplays?
Yeah, I’ve written. I’m getting ready to do one of them now, the story about the rugby player who came out and announced that he was gay. Gareth Thomas, the Welsh captain. That’s called The Beautiful Game. We’re going to shoot that in April.
That’s cool.
I also wrote a film that took me about twenty years to work on, called Wild Horses.
Is it really personal? Twenty years…
Well, yeah, I wrote it, kind of… It was about two brothers who don’t see each other for fifteen years, and then they get back together and it’s sort of a journey they go on. But there’s something going on with one of the brothers, and the journey kind of ends after a few weeks.
You signed on for ‘Seven Psychopaths…’
No, I’m not in that. The producer was a jerk-off. He wanted me to work for slave wages, and it was like… What’s his name… […] Right now, he’s no Darren Aronofsky. If I want to go to work for nothing, then, you know what I’m talking about. When I go to work, I work very, very hard, and I’m not going to give that away for free. But then again there’s the happy medium. If they want to just all go, “Oh, but In Bruges was this and that.” Well, maybe to some people, not to me. So they can play that arty-farty game with somebody else, you know what I’m saying? I’ll pick and choose who I want to go to work with for nothing. And all I can say at the end of the day is, their f**king loss.
Does that mean that you’re going to be in ‘The Expendables 2’ now? The rumors said that when you signed on to that you weren’t going to be able to do ‘The Expendables 2’ anymore.
Well, that’s another thing. Listen, I did the first one because I felt that I owed Sly a favor. He gave me a job in Get Carter when I couldn’t f**king shine my shoes, you know what I’m saying. And that was that. The other thing around that, I had never said I was going to be in it. I think the producers announced it but nobody discussed it with me.
craveonline.com
‘Immortals' star Mickey Rourke takes, learns from chances
BY GEORGE LANG
Published: November 11, 2011
LOS ANGELES — Within five minutes of sitting down at a conference table at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles to talk about his performance as Hyperion in “Immortals,” Mickey Rourke is making jokes about p*rn*gr*ph*c Greek mythology movies. Supposedly, a completely unprintable title that does not appear on the Internet Movie Database is his favorite swords-sandals-and-nothing-else epic.
But “Immortals,” in which the cast led by Henry Cavill, Frieda Pinto and Rourke remains (mostly) girded, comes close. Rourke was persuaded to play the monstrous Titan god who declares war on humanity when he saw the striking visual motifs created by director Tarsem Singh, who is known for baroque visuals in films such as “The Fall” and “The Cell,” and the music video for R.E.M.'s “Losing My Religion.”
“Tarsem came out of a commercial background, and when I read the script, the look of this thing was so important,” said Rourke, who spends much of “Immortals” wearing a nightmarish helmet resembling a scorpion's pincher. “Otherwise, it would look like everything else. Tarsem's a very smart man, very innovative. There was so much preproduction put into it, so much thought. I saw his commercial reel, the Nike commercial reel that he did where he had the different athletes wearing masks. When he was doing that commercial, he was already setting the look for this movie.”
“Immortals” was an instance in which Rourke felt assured that what he saw on the page would come to fruition. And if he was not happy with the results, everyone would know. Before “Passion Play” could even hit theaters earlier this year, Rourke famously derided the film, calling it “terrible.” “When I read ‘Passion Play' ... a friend of mine I grew up with wrote it. He never directed before, but he wrote it,” Rourke said. “It did not translate from the paper to the screen, whether it was lack of experience or the through line did not work, you don't know sometimes. All of sudden you show up (at a screening) and you go, ‘What the f--- happened?' It's like rolling the dice or going to the horse track. You never know how it's going to turn out. But that's OK with me,” he said. “It would be very boring if I had a little gold thing and I would rub it, and every movie would be a hit. I would be bored.”
Rourke was a Method acting phenomenon, seemingly the heir to Marlon Brando. And like Brando, Rourke's mercurial personality and undependable work habits led to something close to banishment. He quit acting in favor of boxing in the 1990s but it was his on-set problems that created the most havoc and led to a long period of direct-to-video work.
With 2006's “Sin City,” Rourke proved to director Robert Rodriguez and the rest of Hollywood that he was ready to get down to business again. That led to “The Wrestler,” “Iron Man 2” and “Immortals,” and Rourke said he learned an important lesson.
“Mainly I say, ‘Please God, let me not be late to work so I'll be out of work for another 13 years,'” he said. “In the old days, if they said the ‘call' was at 7, I'd show up at 11. You can't do that. I have to be consistent and be what they call a professional, because there are ... repercussions. It's a business, and it's political, and if you cause too many problems, no matter how good you are or whatever, you're going to be out of work.”
Now, Rourke is doing all he can to sustain his work. Rourke is writing a still-untitled screenplay about the life of Gareth Thomas, the Welsh rugby player who came out as gay in 2009. “I went over to Wales and talked to him, and I begged him to give me a chance to ... play the part,” Rourke said. “I hired a writer, and his screenplay was s---. So I rewrote it, and that was great — better. We're going to shoot the movie in March with a South African director, and it will be the hardest and best movie I've ever made, I guarantee. ... We've been training now for five months. I'm not good with accents, so I'm going to have to spend three months learning the Welsh accent.”
Rourke said he was drawn to the role by the challenge of playing someone who led a double life for 25 years. “That's a lot on his plate, and in that sport, you can't just say, ‘Oh, I'm gay,' and everybody's going to embrace you. It's taboo to be a fighter, or a movie star.”
And after a few moments of total seriousness, Rourke is back to his usual self.
“I mean, there are still movie stars today that are in the closet,” he said. “Three of them. Want me to tell you who they are?”
BY GEORGE LANG
Published: November 11, 2011
LOS ANGELES — Within five minutes of sitting down at a conference table at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles to talk about his performance as Hyperion in “Immortals,” Mickey Rourke is making jokes about p*rn*gr*ph*c Greek mythology movies. Supposedly, a completely unprintable title that does not appear on the Internet Movie Database is his favorite swords-sandals-and-nothing-else epic.
But “Immortals,” in which the cast led by Henry Cavill, Frieda Pinto and Rourke remains (mostly) girded, comes close. Rourke was persuaded to play the monstrous Titan god who declares war on humanity when he saw the striking visual motifs created by director Tarsem Singh, who is known for baroque visuals in films such as “The Fall” and “The Cell,” and the music video for R.E.M.'s “Losing My Religion.”
“Tarsem came out of a commercial background, and when I read the script, the look of this thing was so important,” said Rourke, who spends much of “Immortals” wearing a nightmarish helmet resembling a scorpion's pincher. “Otherwise, it would look like everything else. Tarsem's a very smart man, very innovative. There was so much preproduction put into it, so much thought. I saw his commercial reel, the Nike commercial reel that he did where he had the different athletes wearing masks. When he was doing that commercial, he was already setting the look for this movie.”
“Immortals” was an instance in which Rourke felt assured that what he saw on the page would come to fruition. And if he was not happy with the results, everyone would know. Before “Passion Play” could even hit theaters earlier this year, Rourke famously derided the film, calling it “terrible.” “When I read ‘Passion Play' ... a friend of mine I grew up with wrote it. He never directed before, but he wrote it,” Rourke said. “It did not translate from the paper to the screen, whether it was lack of experience or the through line did not work, you don't know sometimes. All of sudden you show up (at a screening) and you go, ‘What the f--- happened?' It's like rolling the dice or going to the horse track. You never know how it's going to turn out. But that's OK with me,” he said. “It would be very boring if I had a little gold thing and I would rub it, and every movie would be a hit. I would be bored.”
Rourke was a Method acting phenomenon, seemingly the heir to Marlon Brando. And like Brando, Rourke's mercurial personality and undependable work habits led to something close to banishment. He quit acting in favor of boxing in the 1990s but it was his on-set problems that created the most havoc and led to a long period of direct-to-video work.
With 2006's “Sin City,” Rourke proved to director Robert Rodriguez and the rest of Hollywood that he was ready to get down to business again. That led to “The Wrestler,” “Iron Man 2” and “Immortals,” and Rourke said he learned an important lesson.
“Mainly I say, ‘Please God, let me not be late to work so I'll be out of work for another 13 years,'” he said. “In the old days, if they said the ‘call' was at 7, I'd show up at 11. You can't do that. I have to be consistent and be what they call a professional, because there are ... repercussions. It's a business, and it's political, and if you cause too many problems, no matter how good you are or whatever, you're going to be out of work.”
Now, Rourke is doing all he can to sustain his work. Rourke is writing a still-untitled screenplay about the life of Gareth Thomas, the Welsh rugby player who came out as gay in 2009. “I went over to Wales and talked to him, and I begged him to give me a chance to ... play the part,” Rourke said. “I hired a writer, and his screenplay was s---. So I rewrote it, and that was great — better. We're going to shoot the movie in March with a South African director, and it will be the hardest and best movie I've ever made, I guarantee. ... We've been training now for five months. I'm not good with accents, so I'm going to have to spend three months learning the Welsh accent.”
Rourke said he was drawn to the role by the challenge of playing someone who led a double life for 25 years. “That's a lot on his plate, and in that sport, you can't just say, ‘Oh, I'm gay,' and everybody's going to embrace you. It's taboo to be a fighter, or a movie star.”
And after a few moments of total seriousness, Rourke is back to his usual self.
“I mean, there are still movie stars today that are in the closet,” he said. “Three of them. Want me to tell you who they are?”
Travel and accommodations provided by Relativity Media.
newsok.com
newsok.com
50 Cent says be working with Mickey Rourke again ‘soon’.
Nov. 10th, 2011
The pair met up to discuss their plans over lunch together yesterday. 50 Cent posted a picture of them with their arms round each other along with the announcement, on his Twitter account.
‘Had lunch with Micky Rourke today were goin 2 work together on another film soon …(sic),’ he tweeted.
Mickey and 50 Cent previously worked together on 2010′s 13 alongside Jason Statham and Alexander Skarsgard. 50 Cent has had a busy year with the release of a new semi-autobiographical book about bullying and his fifth studio album due out in December.
The star has also had roles in movies such as Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and Things Fall Apart. 50 is all business, however maybe he should try to get some rest every chance he gets. We are all aware by know that many artists are getting hospitalized due to fatigue, so hopefully 50 stays well rested and healthy.
hiphoprx.com
Nov. 10th, 2011
The pair met up to discuss their plans over lunch together yesterday. 50 Cent posted a picture of them with their arms round each other along with the announcement, on his Twitter account.
‘Had lunch with Micky Rourke today were goin 2 work together on another film soon …(sic),’ he tweeted.
Mickey and 50 Cent previously worked together on 2010′s 13 alongside Jason Statham and Alexander Skarsgard. 50 Cent has had a busy year with the release of a new semi-autobiographical book about bullying and his fifth studio album due out in December.
The star has also had roles in movies such as Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and Things Fall Apart. 50 is all business, however maybe he should try to get some rest every chance he gets. We are all aware by know that many artists are getting hospitalized due to fatigue, so hopefully 50 stays well rested and healthy.
hiphoprx.com
Mickey Rourke on ‘Immortals’ and the Roots of Pure Evil
Nov 11, 2011
Roth Cornet
What drew you to the project initially and what were some of the challenges that you experienced?
“Well, the days would start out bad because the lady, Iko? She spent three years doing the wardrobe and it was heavy. It took me an hour to put my pants on. It was like this layer and another layer. Then a layer up here. Then a belt over here. Then another layer and a gauntlet over here. It was like, ‘Now I have to stand?!’ And the shoes were like 300 pounds a piece. It was nice once I got dressed and then it was another two hours in the makeup chair. The main reason I took the movie was to work with Tarsem. I saw his commercial reel and I saw the interesting Nike reel he did where he had the faces on all the athletes. The masks. He brought some drawings of the different characters. I thought this guy is very prepared, you know. And I like working with guys who do a very long pre-production because they know exactly what they want. And because he comes out of commercials, he has such a fabulous look. I thought he could take this material to another level. So I don’t necessarily know if I would have done this movie if it wasn’t Tarsem involved.”
When you’re playing a guy who is essentially pure evil, is it hard to sympathize?
“I never look at the guy as that pure evil. I always try to find a reason. Maybe it’s Theseus’ problem, you know?”
You find a justification for why he does what he does?
“Absolutely. It’s like territory. Back home it’s like, ‘this is my territory.’ I got a reason to do whatever I want in my territory – or you could say ‘in my house.’ He (Hyperion) considered everything his house.”
Was there any particular portion of the experience that felt the most rewarding?
“Once again working with Tarsem and Henry. Henry’s very young, enthusiastic. He was running around doing push ups and cartwheels. I remember when I used to get that excited. I thought maybe he’d better work on his lines. (Laughter) But it’s nice to work with someone who’s beginning their career, seeing them so gung ho. Tarsem was excited. It was a very good…. I worked a total of eight days maybe on the movie.”
You have a pretty good history of physical discipline. So did you have to do anything different for that short period of time?
“I had just come out of surgery. I had torn my bicep and I just had bicep surgery. I lost my whole tendon. The operation didn’t work. So I was actually worried about just being able to tie my shoes. It’s one of the reasons I wore a gauntlet up here (motions to top of his right arm). I had a big scar. I’m going to have to have a cadaver tendon put in to fix it.”
But it will heal eventually?
“No. I have to have a dead person. Do you wanna volunteer?”
No more questions.
On second thought.
Mickey, have you seen the movie?
“Yeah.”
What did you think?
“What did you think? It’s entertainment, you know? It looks great. I didn’t wear the glasses. I just wasn’t in a mood to put them on, they told me there’s a difference. I thought Tarsem did a hell of a job. It’s a wild looking two hours of something you can escape to and go, ‘Wow. That’s different.’”
screenrant.com
Nov 11, 2011
Roth Cornet
What drew you to the project initially and what were some of the challenges that you experienced?
“Well, the days would start out bad because the lady, Iko? She spent three years doing the wardrobe and it was heavy. It took me an hour to put my pants on. It was like this layer and another layer. Then a layer up here. Then a belt over here. Then another layer and a gauntlet over here. It was like, ‘Now I have to stand?!’ And the shoes were like 300 pounds a piece. It was nice once I got dressed and then it was another two hours in the makeup chair. The main reason I took the movie was to work with Tarsem. I saw his commercial reel and I saw the interesting Nike reel he did where he had the faces on all the athletes. The masks. He brought some drawings of the different characters. I thought this guy is very prepared, you know. And I like working with guys who do a very long pre-production because they know exactly what they want. And because he comes out of commercials, he has such a fabulous look. I thought he could take this material to another level. So I don’t necessarily know if I would have done this movie if it wasn’t Tarsem involved.”
When you’re playing a guy who is essentially pure evil, is it hard to sympathize?
“I never look at the guy as that pure evil. I always try to find a reason. Maybe it’s Theseus’ problem, you know?”
You find a justification for why he does what he does?
“Absolutely. It’s like territory. Back home it’s like, ‘this is my territory.’ I got a reason to do whatever I want in my territory – or you could say ‘in my house.’ He (Hyperion) considered everything his house.”
Was there any particular portion of the experience that felt the most rewarding?
“Once again working with Tarsem and Henry. Henry’s very young, enthusiastic. He was running around doing push ups and cartwheels. I remember when I used to get that excited. I thought maybe he’d better work on his lines. (Laughter) But it’s nice to work with someone who’s beginning their career, seeing them so gung ho. Tarsem was excited. It was a very good…. I worked a total of eight days maybe on the movie.”
You have a pretty good history of physical discipline. So did you have to do anything different for that short period of time?
“I had just come out of surgery. I had torn my bicep and I just had bicep surgery. I lost my whole tendon. The operation didn’t work. So I was actually worried about just being able to tie my shoes. It’s one of the reasons I wore a gauntlet up here (motions to top of his right arm). I had a big scar. I’m going to have to have a cadaver tendon put in to fix it.”
But it will heal eventually?
“No. I have to have a dead person. Do you wanna volunteer?”
No more questions.
On second thought.
Mickey, have you seen the movie?
“Yeah.”
What did you think?
“What did you think? It’s entertainment, you know? It looks great. I didn’t wear the glasses. I just wasn’t in a mood to put them on, they told me there’s a difference. I thought Tarsem did a hell of a job. It’s a wild looking two hours of something you can escape to and go, ‘Wow. That’s different.’”
screenrant.com
Interview: ‘Immortals’ Director Tarsem Singh On Gods, Monsters & Mickey Rourke
Can you talk a little about working along with Mickey Rourke as well as casting him since the villain specifically?
“Usually, I pick anyone who I think is much like a cat; that’s un-corralable on the film. Either it’s just like a Romanian girl or J-Lo automatically. With Mickey, after i got him, everyone had fallen in wherever I wanted all of them. I just wanted anyone to be edgy; in this way that you don’t understand where he’s likely to go and he’s likely to fight with everyone on various things. Mickey’s the perfect guy for this. He’s scary, he’s weird; you can simply tell him where things proceed and he’ll perform it. Mickey can’t do several line together. He won’t do the following line. So I must take all which in. It’s the same as having a child about the set; a really big child. ”
Speaking associated with archetypal villains, you simply wrapped ‘Snow Whitened. ’ Did Julia Roberts thrive on being the bad queen?
“She will be this person and fall. She would end up being mean to Lily (Collins) [in character] after which say, ‘that’s such as being nasty in order to Bambi. ’ People cope with it differently. To some person like Mickey, Bambi steak may appear good. ”
One from the outstanding aspects from the film is the actual fight sequences and especially the ultimate climatic one within the tunnel and outside where you’ve three different fights essentially happening. How crucial had been the editing and dealing with the editors?
“Well, we’d to go reshoot which [sequence] because Mickey, whenever we cast him, turned up with one damaged arm, and 1 week before shooting, broke another arm. So, I’d no fighting along with him. Four several weeks ago, we returned and his equip was fine. This person [Hyperion] that had been so bad that you simply wanted to perform a UFC style, fingers within the eye, pull out the ear type of fighting and everybody was missing that. We knew it had been missing, so we cut another stuff but fortunately we wound up getting him back so when we did, it’s just so not the same as the other battles, one is collision and also the other one is actually God fighting (that was very difficult to define personally). The 3rd one was UFC. You will find three styles as well as I was very aware the way the editing would function. ”
Full interview here
moviedatalist.com
Can you talk a little about working along with Mickey Rourke as well as casting him since the villain specifically?
“Usually, I pick anyone who I think is much like a cat; that’s un-corralable on the film. Either it’s just like a Romanian girl or J-Lo automatically. With Mickey, after i got him, everyone had fallen in wherever I wanted all of them. I just wanted anyone to be edgy; in this way that you don’t understand where he’s likely to go and he’s likely to fight with everyone on various things. Mickey’s the perfect guy for this. He’s scary, he’s weird; you can simply tell him where things proceed and he’ll perform it. Mickey can’t do several line together. He won’t do the following line. So I must take all which in. It’s the same as having a child about the set; a really big child. ”
Speaking associated with archetypal villains, you simply wrapped ‘Snow Whitened. ’ Did Julia Roberts thrive on being the bad queen?
“She will be this person and fall. She would end up being mean to Lily (Collins) [in character] after which say, ‘that’s such as being nasty in order to Bambi. ’ People cope with it differently. To some person like Mickey, Bambi steak may appear good. ”
One from the outstanding aspects from the film is the actual fight sequences and especially the ultimate climatic one within the tunnel and outside where you’ve three different fights essentially happening. How crucial had been the editing and dealing with the editors?
“Well, we’d to go reshoot which [sequence] because Mickey, whenever we cast him, turned up with one damaged arm, and 1 week before shooting, broke another arm. So, I’d no fighting along with him. Four several weeks ago, we returned and his equip was fine. This person [Hyperion] that had been so bad that you simply wanted to perform a UFC style, fingers within the eye, pull out the ear type of fighting and everybody was missing that. We knew it had been missing, so we cut another stuff but fortunately we wound up getting him back so when we did, it’s just so not the same as the other battles, one is collision and also the other one is actually God fighting (that was very difficult to define personally). The 3rd one was UFC. You will find three styles as well as I was very aware the way the editing would function. ”
Full interview here
moviedatalist.com
Actor Mickey Rourke is a guest on "Piers Morgan Tonight" and the candid discussion touches on the personal and the professional. For the first time ever, he talks about the recent book by his ex-wife Carre Otis. "From what I've heard about it it's probably kind of like a little bit of sour grapes, chasing the buck and a delusional, narcissistic self-centered point of view," he tells Piers Morgan.
Rourke said he agrees with something that was told to him: "You were in love with the idea of who you wanted her to be, not who she really is."
Rourke said he agrees with something that was told to him: "You were in love with the idea of who you wanted her to be, not who she really is."
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INTERVIEW: Director Tarsem Singh and His Gorgeous Stars Isabel Lucas & Frieda Pinto Talk IMMORTALS
(Full interview here)
Courtney Howard
November 10, 2011
Tarsem enjoyed working with notorious rebel Mickey Rourke:
Usually, I pick one person who I think is like a cat; that’s un-corralable on a film. Either it’s like a Romanian girl or J-Lo by default as I said. With Mickey, when I got him, everyone had fallen in exactly where I wanted them. I just wanted one person to be edgy; in a sense that you don’t know where he’s going to go and he’s going to fight with everyone on different things. Mickey’s the perfect guy for it. He’s scary, he’s creepy; you can tell him where things go and he’ll play it. Mickey can’t do more than one line together. He won’t do the next line. So I have to take all that in. With all the other actors, I would always work out the wide shots with them, and then come pick up what I need to do after I had seen them rehearsed with Mickey. With Mickey I did no rehearsal. I would always take him in, and I would only work with him and say, “This line here, this line there.” He would say yes. There’s a certain amount of crawliness that comes into a guy like that who you know can’t see very well. He’s not wearing glasses. He’s got a contact in one eye. You’ve given him a spear and he’s holding it next to a girl’s eye. I knew that would happen just by definition. It’s just like having a child on the set; a very big child.
veryaware.com
----------------------------------------
Interview: Tarsem Talks Media Training, Rourke, and Being The Film School Reject
(Full interview here)
Jack Giroux
November 12, 2011
You mentioned how on every film you kinda like to have wildcard like Mickey Rourke. You also said you don’t do too much planning for a film, so having an actor like Mickey Rourke, does that bring a spontaneity to set and to the film? No! Actually, you know what’s funny? I don’t think it’s always necessary. I think that’s kind of unfortunately what’s happened in a couple of tough ones, because I think Terry Gilliam has taken the same…he himself is a wildcard. So when things are going really smoothly, you just throw a monkey wrench in it for no reason for it to go a particular way. I think the last couple of films, unfortunately the films are barely holding together. And he threw a monkey wrench in and they kind fall apart. For me, in this particular case of Immortals, it was just statically correct in coming in. There’s always one person that’s allowed to play that. In The Fall it’s the Romanian girl. It’s not necessary, because very rarely are films…I’ve just been lucky that the films came together quite nicely, the ones that I’ve done. I don’t mind one wildcard. You just can’t have two.
With an actor like Rourke, he seems to put a lot of thought into his characters. When working with actors like him and Vincent D’Onofrio, how does that change the atmosphere of the set, having guys who really just kind of go that deep into their characters?
It’s really strange. D’Onofrio is a different take altogether than Mickey is. D’Onofrio was incredibly, incredibly, incredibly professional. Mickey, on the other hand, I didn’t want him to be that professional. It’s just like trying to corral a cat. With all the actors I rehearsed with, we talked about what’s going to happen until we did that, then we did the shot, we shot it conventionally.
With Mickey, I wouldn’t rehearse with the other actors. I would go only alone with him. I would just say, “Let’s break the scene down. What do you think happens?” I didn’t want to waste too much of the intimation factor that a guy like this brings in.
We would go into a place, I would give him the places where we had broken down, like, “This happens here, this happens here, this happens here.” Within that, you can change what you want. But don’t say the greatest line that you have to and think that you really improv something nice when you’re off camera. I’m not going to plan. It’s not one of those films that whatever the actor says we will capture it. You have to say it in the right place or the best performances will end up on the floor. He understood that. So when he would come in, I would always go in and rehearse with him alone. Then, you get a guy like that in and he you’ve got three girls kind of tied up sitting down, and you give a guy like this, who he’s never repeating the same performance, just getting the essence of it every time, but never repeating it. Then you give him something like a spear and he’s saying all sorts of things and putting a spear next to a girl’s eye. That nervousness is real. There’s no acting in it.
filmschoolrejects.com
(Full interview here)
Courtney Howard
November 10, 2011
Tarsem enjoyed working with notorious rebel Mickey Rourke:
Usually, I pick one person who I think is like a cat; that’s un-corralable on a film. Either it’s like a Romanian girl or J-Lo by default as I said. With Mickey, when I got him, everyone had fallen in exactly where I wanted them. I just wanted one person to be edgy; in a sense that you don’t know where he’s going to go and he’s going to fight with everyone on different things. Mickey’s the perfect guy for it. He’s scary, he’s creepy; you can tell him where things go and he’ll play it. Mickey can’t do more than one line together. He won’t do the next line. So I have to take all that in. With all the other actors, I would always work out the wide shots with them, and then come pick up what I need to do after I had seen them rehearsed with Mickey. With Mickey I did no rehearsal. I would always take him in, and I would only work with him and say, “This line here, this line there.” He would say yes. There’s a certain amount of crawliness that comes into a guy like that who you know can’t see very well. He’s not wearing glasses. He’s got a contact in one eye. You’ve given him a spear and he’s holding it next to a girl’s eye. I knew that would happen just by definition. It’s just like having a child on the set; a very big child.
veryaware.com
----------------------------------------
Interview: Tarsem Talks Media Training, Rourke, and Being The Film School Reject
(Full interview here)
Jack Giroux
November 12, 2011
You mentioned how on every film you kinda like to have wildcard like Mickey Rourke. You also said you don’t do too much planning for a film, so having an actor like Mickey Rourke, does that bring a spontaneity to set and to the film? No! Actually, you know what’s funny? I don’t think it’s always necessary. I think that’s kind of unfortunately what’s happened in a couple of tough ones, because I think Terry Gilliam has taken the same…he himself is a wildcard. So when things are going really smoothly, you just throw a monkey wrench in it for no reason for it to go a particular way. I think the last couple of films, unfortunately the films are barely holding together. And he threw a monkey wrench in and they kind fall apart. For me, in this particular case of Immortals, it was just statically correct in coming in. There’s always one person that’s allowed to play that. In The Fall it’s the Romanian girl. It’s not necessary, because very rarely are films…I’ve just been lucky that the films came together quite nicely, the ones that I’ve done. I don’t mind one wildcard. You just can’t have two.
With an actor like Rourke, he seems to put a lot of thought into his characters. When working with actors like him and Vincent D’Onofrio, how does that change the atmosphere of the set, having guys who really just kind of go that deep into their characters?
It’s really strange. D’Onofrio is a different take altogether than Mickey is. D’Onofrio was incredibly, incredibly, incredibly professional. Mickey, on the other hand, I didn’t want him to be that professional. It’s just like trying to corral a cat. With all the actors I rehearsed with, we talked about what’s going to happen until we did that, then we did the shot, we shot it conventionally.
With Mickey, I wouldn’t rehearse with the other actors. I would go only alone with him. I would just say, “Let’s break the scene down. What do you think happens?” I didn’t want to waste too much of the intimation factor that a guy like this brings in.
We would go into a place, I would give him the places where we had broken down, like, “This happens here, this happens here, this happens here.” Within that, you can change what you want. But don’t say the greatest line that you have to and think that you really improv something nice when you’re off camera. I’m not going to plan. It’s not one of those films that whatever the actor says we will capture it. You have to say it in the right place or the best performances will end up on the floor. He understood that. So when he would come in, I would always go in and rehearse with him alone. Then, you get a guy like that in and he you’ve got three girls kind of tied up sitting down, and you give a guy like this, who he’s never repeating the same performance, just getting the essence of it every time, but never repeating it. Then you give him something like a spear and he’s saying all sorts of things and putting a spear next to a girl’s eye. That nervousness is real. There’s no acting in it.
filmschoolrejects.com
Mickey Rourke talks Bush, Cubans, and his new movie, ‘Immortals’
By AL PUNTO
Channel: Entertainment
Mickey Rourke is playing a bad guy. Again. And apparently, we can’t get enough. His new film, Immortals, is number one at the box office, opening at a strong $32 million, $7 million more than its distributor Relativity Media had predicted.
Univision’s own Jorge Ramos sat down with Rourke in Miami to reminisce about his days growing up among Cubans, why President Bush won his support after 9/11, and how his latest bad guy, the ruthless King Hyperion, differs from the rest.
univisionnews.tumblr.com
By AL PUNTO
Channel: Entertainment
Mickey Rourke is playing a bad guy. Again. And apparently, we can’t get enough. His new film, Immortals, is number one at the box office, opening at a strong $32 million, $7 million more than its distributor Relativity Media had predicted.
Univision’s own Jorge Ramos sat down with Rourke in Miami to reminisce about his days growing up among Cubans, why President Bush won his support after 9/11, and how his latest bad guy, the ruthless King Hyperion, differs from the rest.
univisionnews.tumblr.com
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