Early roles In 1971, as a senior at
Miami Beach Senior High School, Rourke had a small acting role in the
Jay W. Jensen–directed school play
The Serpent. However, Rourke's interests were geared to boxing, and he never appeared in any other school productions. Soon after he temporarily gave up boxing, a friend at the
University of Miami told Rourke about a play he was directing,
Deathwatch, and how the man playing the role of Green Eyes had quit. Rourke got the part and immediately became enamored with acting. Borrowing $400 from his sister, he moved to New York, working an assortment of odd jobs while studying with
Actors Studio alumni Walter Lott and
Sandra Seacat. It was under the latter's tutelage, Rourke later recalled, that "everything started to click." Seacat motivated Rourke to find his father, from whom he was separated for more than twenty years. , Rourke, and
Evan Rachel Wood discussing
The Wrestler During his appearance on
Inside the Actors Studio, after the release of
The Wrestler, host
James Lipton disclosed that Rourke had been selected to the Actors Studio in his first audition, which
Elia Kazan is reported to have said was the "best audition in thirty years". Appearing primarily in television films during the late 1970s, Rourke made his feature film debut with a small role in
Steven Spielberg's
1941 (1979). He played Ritchie,
Dennis Christopher's bullying and ill-fated co-worker in the 1980 slasher film
Fade to Black. However, it was in 1981, with his portrayal of an arsonist in
Body Heat, that Rourke first received significant attention, despite his modest time on screen. The following year, he drew further critical accolades for his portrayal as the suave compulsive gambler "Boogie" Sheftell in
Barry Levinson's
Diner, in which Rourke co-starred, alongside
Paul Reiser,
Daniel Stern,
Steve Guttenberg,
Tim Daly and
Kevin Bacon; the
National Society of Film Critics named him Best Supporting Actor that year. Soon thereafter, Rourke starred in
Rumble Fish,
Francis Ford Coppola's follow-up to
The Outsiders. Rourke's performance in the film
The Pope of Greenwich Village alongside
Daryl Hannah and
Eric Roberts also caught the attention of critics, although the film was not financially successful. In the mid-1980s, Rourke earned himself additional leading roles. His role opposite
Kim Basinger in the erotic drama
9½ Weeks helped him gain
sex symbol status. He received critical praise for his work in
Barbet Schroeder's
Barfly as the alcoholic writer
Henry Chinaski (the literary
alter ego of
Charles Bukowski), co-starring
Faye Dunaway, and in
Year of the Dragon, written by
Oliver Stone. In 1987, Rourke gave what is widely considered to be one of his greatest performances in
Angel Heart. The film was nominated for several awards. It was somewhat controversial, owing to a sex scene involving
Cosby Show cast member
Lisa Bonet, who won an award for her part in the film. Although some of Rourke's work was controversial in the US, he was well received by European, and especially French audiences, who loved the "rumpled, slightly dirty, sordid ... rebel persona" Around the same time, he also wrote his first screenplay,
Homeboy, a boxing tale in which he starred. In 1989, Rourke starred in the docudrama
Francesco, portraying
St. Francis of Assisi. This was followed by
Wild Orchid, another critically panned film, which gained him a nomination for a
Razzie award (also for
Desperate Hours). In 1991, he starred in the box office bomb
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man as Harley Davidson, a biker whose best friend, Marlboro, was played by
Don Johnson. In his last role before departing for the boxing ring, Rourke played an arms dealer chased by
Willem Dafoe and
Samuel L. Jackson in
White Sands, a
film noir that reviewers found stylish but incoherent. Rourke's acting career eventually became overshadowed by his personal life and career decisions. Directors such as
Alan Parker found it difficult to work with him. Parker stated that "working with Mickey is a nightmare. He is very dangerous on the set because you never know what he is going to do." In a documentary on the special edition
DVD of
Tombstone, actor
Michael Biehn, who plays the part of
Johnny Ringo, mentions that his role was first offered to Rourke. Rourke has allegedly turned down several roles in high-profile films, including
48 Hrs.,
Platoon,
Highlander,
Top Gun,
Beverly Hills Cop,
The Untouchables,
Rain Man,
The Silence of the Lambs,
Pulp Fiction, and
Death Proof.
1990s In the early 1990s, Rourke was offered and declined the role of
Butch Coolidge, which later became
Bruce Willis's role in
Pulp Fiction. After his retirement from boxing, Rourke did accept supporting roles in several 1990s films, including
Francis Ford Coppola's
adaptation of
John Grisham's
The Rainmaker,
Vincent Gallo's ''
Buffalo '66'',
Steve Buscemi's
Animal Factory,
Sean Penn's
The Pledge, and
Sylvester Stallone's remake of
Get Carter. Rourke also has written several films under the name Sir Eddie Cook, including
Bullet, in which he co-starred with
Tupac Shakur. While Rourke was also selected for a significant role in
Terrence Malick's
The Thin Red Line, his part ended up on the
cutting room floor. Rourke also played a small part in the film
Thursday, in which he plays a crooked cop. He also had a lead role in 1997's
Double Team, which co-starred martial arts actor
Jean-Claude Van Damme and former
NBA player
Dennis Rodman. It was Rourke's first over-the-top action film role, in which he played the lead villain. During that same year, he filmed
Another 9½ Weeks, a sequel to
9½ Weeks, which received only limited distribution. He ended the 1990s with the
direct-to-video films
Out in Fifty,
Shades and television film
Shergar, about the kidnapping of Epsom Derby-winning thoroughbred racehorse
Shergar. Rourke has expressed his bitterness over that period of his career, stating that he came to consider himself a "has-been" and lived for a time in "a state of shame".
2000–2009 In 2001, Rourke appeared as the villain in
Enrique Iglesias's music video for "
Hero", which also featured
Jennifer Love Hewitt. In 2002, he took the role of The Cook in
Jonas Åkerlund's
Spun, teaming up once again with
Eric Roberts. His first collaborations with directors
Robert Rodriguez and
Tony Scott, in
Once Upon a Time in Mexico and
Man on Fire, respectively, were in smaller roles. Nonetheless, these directors subsequently decided to cast Rourke in lead roles in their next films. In 2005, Rourke made his comeback in mainstream Hollywood circles with a lead role as
Marv in
Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of
Frank Miller's
Sin City. Rourke received awards from the
Chicago Film Critics Association, the IFTA, and the Online Film Critics Society, as well as Man of the Year from
Total Film magazine that year. Rourke followed
Sin City with a supporting role in
Tony Scott's
Domino alongside
Keira Knightley, in which he played a
bounty hunter. Rourke played the role of "The Blackbird" in an adaptation of
Elmore Leonard's
Killshot, and appeared as Darrius Sayle in the adaptation of the
Alex Rider novel
Stormbreaker. In addition, in 2004, Rourke provided the voice for "Jericho" in the third installment of the
Driver video game series. Rourke also appeared in a 40-page story by photographer
Bryan Adams for Berlin's
Zoo Magazine. In an article about Rourke's return to steady acting roles, entitled "Mickey Rourke Rising", Christopher Heard stated that actors
Johnny Depp,
Sean Penn, and
Brad Pitt gave "animated praise for Rourke and his work". Despite having withdrawn from acting at various points, and having made films that he now sees as a creative "sellout" (the action film
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man), Rourke stated that "all that I have been through ...[has] made me a better, more interesting actor". Rourke's renewed interest in pursuing acting can be seen in his statement that "my best work is still ahead of me". Regarding first reading the
screenplay, he stated that he originally "didn't care for it". He also spoke on personal concern and hesitance of being in a film about wrestling, for he perceived it as being "pre-arranged and
pre-choreographed". As he trained for the film, he developed an appreciation and respect for what real-life pro wrestlers do to prepare for the ring: He trained under former WWE wrestler
Afa the Wild Samoan for the part, and has received a
BAFTA award, a
Golden Globe award, an
Independent Spirit Award, and an Oscar nomination as Best Actor. Rourke lost the Oscar to
Sean Penn, while Penn did acknowledge Rourke in his acceptance speech. Rourke has written or co-written six scripts:
Homeboy,
The Last Ride,
Bullet,
Killer Moon,
Penance and the latest,
Pain. Of these, the first three were produced as films between 1988 and 1996. at
WrestleMania XXV In early 2009, Rourke developed a small feud with WWE wrestler
Chris Jericho, as part of a storyline. The storyline climaxed at
WrestleMania XXV, when Rourke knocked out Jericho with a left hook after Jericho won his match against
Jimmy Snuka,
Ricky Steamboat, and
Roddy Piper, with
Ric Flair in their corner. In 2009, Rourke starred in
John Rich's music video for
Shuttin' Detroit Down alongside
Kris Kristofferson. In 2009, he voiced protagonist US Navy SEAL
Dick Marcinko in the video game
Rogue Warrior.
2010–present In 2010, Rourke played the role of the main villain
Whiplash in the film
Iron Man 2. In an interview with New Zealand magazine
Rip It Up magazine he revealed that he prepared for the role by visiting Russian jail inmates. In 2011, he portrayed the villainous King Hyperion in
Immortals and received praise for his performance, while the film received mixed-to-positive reviews and became a box office success. He also had a minor role as Tool in
Sylvester Stallone's
The Expendables. Though he had little screen time, his performance was met with rave reviews and cited as one of the film's highlights. Just before the end of the year, he confirmed on a British TV talk show that he would play
Gareth Thomas in an upcoming film about the Welsh rugby star who
came out as gay the previous year. As of February 2011, he began research on the film, but noted, "We're not going to make this movie until we've done all the proper research. We need to do our homework and I need to train for from nine to eleven months." In 2011, Rourke was cast in the film
Java Heat as an American citizen shadowing terrorist groups in
Java, Indonesia. The film was released in 2013. In 2014, he reprised his
Marv role from
Sin City in the sequel
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. In 2020, Rourke competed in
season four of
The Masked Singer as "Gremlin" and sang "
Stand by Me" by
Ben E. King. After the performance, the Gremlin costume became too hot for him and he ended up unmasking himself before the audience could even vote for their favorite performer. Rourke starred in the 2020 Canadian-American thriller film
Girl in which he played a sheriff. His co-star
Bella Thorne accused him of injuring her pelvis instead of hitting her knee caps as intended in the scene and claimed he was uncooperative on set, refusing to speak with crew. In the 2021 film
Man of God, which is on the life of
St Nectarios of Aegina, Rourke plays the role of a paralyzed man. In 2023, he had a role in
Roman Polanski's drama film
The Palace. In April 2025, Rourke entered the British version of
Celebrity Big Brother to appear as a housemate on its
twenty-fourth season. In his first live appearance, he was criticized for an on-air physical action towards the show's co-host
AJ Odudu, grabbing her by the waist and making her 'clearly uncomfortable', with some viewers wanting him to be taken off the show. On the third episode of the series, Rourke made openly
homophobic and disparaging remarks towards housemate
JoJo Siwa, and was subsequently given a formal warning by the show for his conduct. On April 12, it was announced that Rourke had been removed from the house, due to "inappropriate language and instances of unacceptable behaviour", this time toward housemates
Ella Wise (unwanted sexual remark) and
Chris Hughes (aggressive verbal confrontation). As of April 2025, Rourke was planning to sue
ITV after only receiving £50,000 of his agreed £500,000 fee. ==Other works==