Mickey Rourke (8 page)

C
OPPOLA RANKS
RUMBLE FISH
AS ONE OF THE BEST FILMS HE HAS EVER MADE, BUT IT BECAME, ALONG WITH THE MUSICAL
ONE FROM THE HEART
, ONE OF THE LEAST FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL MOVIES OF HIS WHOLE CAREER.

T
HE FIRST TIME
M
ICKEY REMEMBERS BEING DISENCHANTED WITH THE FILM BUSINESS WAS WHEN
RUMBLE FISH
WAS NOT WELL RECEIVED ON RELEASE.
A
S
M
ICKEY HAD FOUND WITH
HEAVEN’S GATE
, AND EARLIER WITH
1941
, A MUCH LAUDED DIRECTOR WAS NOW BEING LAUGHED AT FOR MAKING A RISKY PROJECT.
B
UT
M
ICKEY WASN’T AMUSED.

H
IS MOOD WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN LIGHTENED BY THE LARGELY NEGATIVE REVIEWS FOR HIS OWN PERFORMANCE, WHICH WAS SUCH A TRADEMARK DISPLAY OF METHOD ACTING THAT SEVERAL CRITICS SUGGESTED THE MOVIE WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE APPROPRIATELY CALLED “
M
UMBLE
F
ISH.”

B
UT HIS SPIRITS WERE LIFTED BY HIS NEXT FILM,
THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE
(1984), WHICH PROVIDED
M
ICKEY WITH THE MOST FUN HE EVER HAD ON A MOVIE.
I
T WAS THE FIRST OF THREE FILMS IN A ROW HE WAS TO MAKE THAT WERE SET IN
N
EW
Y
ORK AND HE WAS THRILLED TO BE BACK ON the streets of his favorite city. But the biggest thrill came from costarring with Eric Roberts, whom he calls “the best actor I ever worked with.”

F
EW ACTORS CAN STEAL SCENES FROM
M
ICKEY
R
OURKE BUT
R
OBERTS AT LEAST MATCHES HIM ALL THE WAY IN THIS THOROUGHLY ENTERTAINING TALE OF TWO COUSINS WHO STEAL A SAFE FULL OF
M
OB MONEY AND GET INTO BIG TROUBLE WITH BOTH THE COPS AND THE
M
AFIA.

T
HE FILM WAS ORIGINALLY DUE TO STAR ACTING GREATS
A
L
P
ACINO AND
R
OBERT
D
E
N
IRO, BUT
M
ICKEY AND
R
OBERTS PROVED MORE THAN ABLE REPLACEMENTS.
E
RIC’S ROLE WAS THE WAYWARD COUSIN
P
AULIE, WHILE
M
ICKEY STARRED AS THE SMARTER, MORE SOPHISTICATED COUSIN,
C
HARLIE
M
ORAN, AND HE SPENT $10,000 OF HIS OWN MONEY BUYING ELEGANT CLOTHES FOR HIS SHARPLY DRESSED CHARACTER TO WEAR IN THE FILM.
H
E ALSO PREPARED FOR THE PART BY SPENDING THREE MONTHS HANGING OUT IN THE DIVE BARS OF
G
REENWICH
V
ILLAGE, GETTING TO MEET THE PATRONS,
M
OB GUYS, AND LOCAL CHARACTERS.
B
UT HIS DEDICATION TO DUTY WOULD BEST BE SHOWN ONCE THE CAMERAS STARTED ROLLING.

O
NE SCENE CALLED FOR
M
ICKEY TO HAVE A BLAZING ROW WITH HIS ON-SCREEN GIRLFRIEND, PLAYED BY
D
ARYL
H
ANNAH, WHICH ENDED WITH HER PUNCHING HIM HARD IN THE FACE.
D
ARYL CONNECTED SO WELL THAT SHE KNOCKED A CAP OFF ONE OF
M
ICKEY’S TEETH.
M
ICKEY DIDN’T MIND BUT HE WAS GLAD WHEN DIRECTOR
S
TUART
R
OSENBERG, WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY MADE
COOL HAND LUKE
AND
THE AMITYVILLE HORROR
, CHOSE NOT TO ASK FOR A SECOND TAKE.

POPE
WASN’T A HIT BUT WON GOOD REVIEWS AND HAS MANY FANS.
J
OHNNY
D
EPP LOVES THE MOVIE AND CALLS IT “PERFECT CINEMA.”
A
MAIN REASON THE MOVIE STILL HOLDS UP WELL TODAY IS THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN
R
OURKE AND
R
OBERTS.
I
N
F
EBRUARY 2009, WHEN HE WAS NAMED
B
EST
A
CTOR FOR
THE WRESTLER
AT THE
I
NDEPENDENT
S
PIRIT
A
WARDS,
M
ICKEY USED HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH TO PAY TRIBUTE TO HIS
POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE
CO-STAR AND URGED THE MOVIEMAKERS PRESENT TO GIVE
E
RIC
R
OBERTS A SECOND SHOT AT STARDOM, JUST AS HE HAD BEEN GIVEN.

M
ICKEY’S NEXT SHOT AT ACTING GREATNESS WAS TO COME WITH HIS BIGGEST ROLE TO DATE, THE LEAD IN CRIME THRILLER
YEAR OF THE DRAGON
(1985).
H
E PLAYED CRUSADING COP
S
TANLEY
W
HITE, BRAVELY WAGING A ONE-MAN WAR AGAINST THE
C
HINESE
M
AFIA IN
N
EW
Y
ORK.
T
HE MOVIE MARKED
M
ICHAEL
C
IMINO’S RETURN TO DIRECTING AFTER THE
HEAVEN’S GATE
FIASCO, AND HE AND
M
ICKEY GOT TO WORK WITH A WELL-CRAFTED SCRIPT BY
O
LIVER
S
TONE WHICH BLURRED THE LINES OF GOOD AND EVIL.

C
ROWDS FLOCKED TO CINEMAS WHEN THE MOVIE OPENED IN
A
MERICA IN THE LATE SUMMER OF 1985, BUT THEY WEREN’T FIGHTING TO GET IN.
I
NSTEAD, THEY WERE PROTESTING AGAINST ITS SHOWING.
T
HE FILM WAS SLAMMED BY POLITICIANS AND ACTIVISTS FOR ALLEGED RACISM AND VIOLENCE IN ITS DEPICTION OF
N
EW
Y
ORK’S
C
HINESE COMMUNITY.
T
HE CRITICS SLAUGHTERED THE FILM, TOO, MUCH TO
M
ICKEY’S DISMAY.
H
E FELT THE POOR REVIEWS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE BUT, INSTEAD, WERE A BACKLASH AGAINST
M
ICHAEL
C
IMINO, WHO HAD BECOME A PUNCHING BAG FOR THE PRESS SINCE
HEAVEN’S GATE
.

YEAR OF THE DRAGON
WAS A COMMERCIAL AND CRITICAL FAILURE, BUT
M
ICKEY FOUND THAT HARD TO TAKE AT THE TIME, SAYING, “
T
HE CRITICS WHO DESTROYED THAT PICTURE ARE THE SCUM OF THE EARTH.
M
AY THEY BURN IN HELL – AND YOU CAN PUT THAT DOWN.”
H
E WAS SO DISTRAUGHT THAT HE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED QUITTING THE MOVIE BUSINESS THERE AND THEN AND LAUNCHING A NEW CAREER BY OPENING A MOTORBIKE SHOP.
I
T SOUNDED MORE APPEALING THAN EXPOSING HIMSELF TO MORE AGGRAVATION.
M
ICKEY FELT ESPECIALLY HURT BECAUSE HE HAD put so much work into the performance, researching the role by spending three months shadowing a real cop called Stanley White – whom his character is named after, in thanks – and going out on homicide calls with him. Mickey had also worked hard to develop a completely different look in that film, and dyed his hair grey because his character was supposed to be much older than he was.

B
UT HIS YOUNGER AND SEXIER LOOK IN HIS NEXT FILM WOULD MAKE HIM ONE OF THE MOST DESIRED MEN ON THE PLANET.
M
ICKEY LOST WEIGHT, GOT IN SHAPE, AND HAD A NEAT HAIRCUT FOR THE EROTIC DRAMA
9½ WEEKS
(1986), THE MOVIE THAT REALLY PUT HIM ON THE MAP.
T
HE SCREENPLAY WAS BASED ON A BOOK OF THE SAME NAME, SUPPOSEDLY A MEMOIR OF HER OWN EROTIC EXPERIENCES BY
N
EW
Y
ORKER
E
LIZABETH
M
C
N
EILL, WHICH, IT LATER EMERGED, WAS THE PEN NAME OF A HALF-
S
WEDISH, HALF-
F
RENCH WOMAN CALLED
I
NGEBORD
D
AY.

M
ICKEY PLAYED RICH, MYSTERIOUS, AND DANGEROUS STOCKBROKER
J
OHN WHO SEDUCES UP-FOR-IT ART GALLERY ASSISTANT
E
LIZABETH, PLAYED BY
K
IM
B
ASINGER, INTO A SERIES OF KINKY SEX GAMES.
F
ROM THE MOMENT THEY FIRST MEET, SHE IS PUTTY IN HIS HANDS.
T
HE GUILTY PLEASURE OF A FILM IS FULL OF STEAMY SCENES LIKE THEIR QUICKIE IN THE CLOCK TOWER, HER CRAWLING ACROSS THE FLOOR PICKING UP MONEY AND, MOST MEMORABLY, THE FOOD ORGY.
I
N THAT SCENE,
J
OHN ORDERS
E
LIZABETH TO CLOSE HER EYES AND SLIDE DOWN TO THE KITCHEN FLOOR IN FRONT OF HIS OPEN REFRIGERATOR.
H
E THEN TANTALIZES HER TONGUE WITH FOOD – STRAWBERRIES, JELLY, PEPPERS, PASTA, THEN
V
ICKS COUGH SYRUP AND MILK.

H
UNDREDS OF ACTRESSES HAD BEEN SEEN FOR THE ROLE OF
E
LIZABETH, WHO FALLS UNDER
J
OHN’S EROTIC SPELL, BEFORE THE MOVIEMAKERS SETTLED ON RELATIVE NEWCOMER
B
ASINGER, WHO HAD BROKEN INTO MOVIES THREE YEARS EARLIER AS THE
B
OND GIRL
D
OMINO IN
S
EAN
C
ONNERY’S
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
.
T
HE STUNNING BLONDE WAS CONSIDERED TO HAVE THE PERFECT LOOK AND PERSONALITY FOR THE PART.

A
LTHOUGH
M
ICKEY AND
K
IM GENERATED REAL EROTIC HEAT ON SCREEN – SO MUCH SO THAT THEY WERE VOTED THE SEXIEST MOVIE COUPLE EVER IN A 2008 SURVEY – THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS COLDER OFF CAMERA.
S
HE DIDN’T LIKE HIS SMOKING HABIT AND CALLED HIM “THE HUMAN ASHTRAY.”
N
EITHER WAS SHE AMUSED BY
M
ICKEY’S HABIT OF BLASTING HIS FAVORITE
B
ILLY
I
DOL SONG, “
R
EBEL
Y
ELL,” AT FULL VOLUME ON SET RIGHT BEFORE TAKES IN ORDER TO HELP HIM GET INTO CHARACTER.

B
UT
K
IM AND
M
ICKEY NEVER REALLY GOT TO KNOW EACH OTHER – AND THAT WAS A DELIBERATE CHOICE.
D
IRECTOR
A
DRIAN
L
YNE DIDN’T WANT THEM TO MEET BEFORE FILMING SO THAT THEY WOULD BE MORE CONVINCING WHEN MEETING AS STRANGERS IN THE MOVIE.
I
N FACT, THE FIRST TIME
M
ICKEY LAID EYES ON
B
ASINGER WAS JUST BEFORE FILMING THE SCENE IN THE
C
HINESE BUTCHER SHOP WHERE THEIR CHARACTERS ENCOUNTER EACH OTHER FOR THE FIRST TIME.
T
HEY KEPT THEIR DISTANCE DURING THE REST OF FILMING, TOO, AND, DESPITE BEING SO INTIMATE ON SCREEN, HAD VIRTUALLY NO RELATIONSHIP OFF CAMERA.
I
T WOULD BE TWENTY-THREE YEARS BEFORE THEY WOULD MEET AGAIN.

T
O RESEARCH HIS FINANCIAL TRADER ROLE,
M
ICKEY WENT TO
W
ALL
S
TREET AND THE
N
EW
Y
ORK
S
TOCK
E
XCHANGE, AND HATED EVERY MINUTE OF HIS VISIT.
H
E REFLECTED HE WOULD RATHER DIG DITCHES AGAIN THAN WORK THERE.
M
ICKEY THOUGHT LONG AND HARD ABOUT HIS OWN LOOK IN THE FILM AND WENT OUT AND BOUGHT $12,000 WORTH OF SUITS HE THOUGHT HIS CHARACTER WOULD WEAR IN THE MOVIE.

A
DRIAN
L
YNE TOOK ONE LOOK AT THEM AND SAID, “
M
ATE, THEY’RE ALL WRONG.”
H
E SAID THEY WERE TOO FLASHY FOR A STOCKBROKER AND MORE APPROPRIATE TO THE CHARACTER HE HAD PLAYED IN
THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE
.
I
NSTEAD OF TAKING THEM BACK TO THE SHOP,
M
ICKEY KEPT THEM ALL FOR HIMSELF, WEARING INSTEAD THE
B
ROOKS
B
ROTHERS SUITS THE COSTUME DEPARTMENT CAME UP WITH FOR THE FILM.
H
E WANTED TO HAVE SPIKY HAIR IN THE FILM LIKE
B
ILLY
I
DOL, BUT
L
YNE WANTED IT FLATTER, AND THERE WERE REGULAR DISPUTES BECAUSE WHENEVER THE ON-SET HAIRDRESSER STYLED HIS HAIR,
M
ICKEY WOULD RUN OFF TO THE BATHROOM AND SPIKE IT UP IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR AND RETURN WITH HIS NEWLY PRIMPED HAIR READY FOR FILMING.

D
IRECTOR
L
YNE, AS HE HAD PROVED WITH HIS EARLIER MOVIE
FLASHDANCE
, HAS A GREAT VISUAL STYLE AND THE MOVIE HAD A TERRIFIC, ATMOSPHERIC LOOK, LIKE ONE OF THE FINEST 1980S POP VIDEOS.
O
NE SCENE WAS ATMOSPHERIC TO THE DETRIMENT OF
M
ICKEY’S HEALTH.
S
O MUCH BLUE SMOKE WAS PUMPED AROUND THE CHIC BOUTIQUE IN THE SCENE WHERE
J
OHN BUYS
E
LIZABETH A DRESS THAT
M
ICKEY DEVELOPED A BRONCHIAL PROBLEM AND WAS OFF SICK FOR TWO DAYS.

M
ICKEY LIKED THE DIRECTOR, BUT DIDN’T FEEL THE FINISHED MOVIE WENT FAR ENOUGH, THINKING THE SADOMASOCHISM ANGLE COULD HAVE BEEN PUSHED MUCH FURTHER.
B
ASINGER DIDN’T SHARE HIS OPINION BUT
M
ICKEY HAD HOPED TO BE ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE TO AN ALL-OUT EROTIC MASTERPIECE, BOLDER THAN ANYTHING IN
B
RANDO’S
LAST TANGO IN PARIS
, AND DIDN’T LIKE THE COMPROMISES IN THE FINAL CUT.

B
UT PLENTY OF PEOPLE WERE PERFECTLY HAPPY WITH
9½ WEEKS
:
M
ICKEY BECAME AN INTERNATIONAL STAR ON THE FILM’S RELEASE.
A
ND HIS GROWING FAN BASE EAGERLY AWAITED THE IDOL’S NEXT MOVE.

B
UT
M
ICKEY WAS PREPARED TO KEEP THEM WAITING.
H
URT BY THE CRITICAL SLAYING OF
YEAR OF THE DRAGON
AND THE SAFE EDITING OF
9½
WEEKS
, HE WAS DISILLUSIONED WITH THE BUSINESS, IN NO RUSH TO GET BACK IN FRONT OF THE CAMERAS, AND PREPARED TO SIT IT OUT UNTIL A MASTERPIECE CAME HIS WAY.
H
E TOOK A YEAR OFF, SPENDING LOTS OF MONEY, GIVING LOTS AWAY, AND VERY QUICKLY THE CASH STARTED TO RUN OUT.
M
ICKEY REALIZED HE HAD TO GET BACK TO WORK – AND NEEDED TO GRAB THE BEST SCRIPT AVAILABLE.