Cliff Notes – Mickey Rourke admits ‘career is in the toilet’ after mistake
- Mickey Rourke revealed he joined Celebrity Big Brother as an alternative to a “bad independent movie,” acknowledging his career struggles and lack of A-list opportunities.
- His controversial behaviour towards host AJ Odudu during the launch episode has sparked backlash, with some calling for his removal from the show.
- Rourke expressed a desire to reinvent himself and work with respected directors, despite his past mistakes and the negative reputation that precedes him.
Celebrity Big Brother’s Mickey Rourke admits ‘career is in the toilet’ after mistake
Mickey Rourke was candid about the true reason he joined Celebrity Big Brother (Picture: ITV)
Mickey Rourke has said it was between Celebrity Big Brother and a ‘bad independent movie’ when choosing to join the ITV series.
The 72-year-old actor has already stirred controversy after being branded creepy for his behaviour towards host AJ Odudu during the launch episode prompting calls for him to be booted out.
And the choice to join the popular British reality series has raised eyebrows for many wondering why the Hollywood star would make such a shock career move.
But in a new interview, the 72-year-old revealed his ‘career is in the toilet’ and he ultimately decided to give Big Brother a try despite knowing ‘nothing about this show’.
‘My shrink said, “When you were young, at 14, you put your finger on the hard button. The problem is you never took it off.” And he’s right.
‘I’ve made mistakes, many. I have nobody to blame for my ship sinking except myself. My career is in the toilet and I’m not getting A-list movies.
‘I’d like to be back where I can work on movies that have integrity,’ he told The Sun.
After rising to prominence as an 80s action heartthrob in movies like Angel Heart and Rumble Fish, Rourke took a break to pursue a short-lived professional boxing career.
He attempted to stage a comeback with his movie Sin City in 2005 followed by his Oscar-nominated role in The Wrestler in 2008.
However, he ran out of steam once more by appearing as the main villain in Iron Man 2, which he went on to criticise after Marvel cut several of his scenes.
Since then he has starred in a series of smaller movies like Murder Motel and Hollywood Heist, had a stint on Masked Singer which he dramatically quit, and appeared in a so-far undistributed Roman Polanski film.
According to Rourke, he has dream directors that he hopes can ‘trust him for who he is today’ rather than ‘the reputation’ that proceeds him after a rocky Hollywood career.
In recent years he has sparked furore for calling Amber Heard a ‘gold-digger’ and Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise ‘irrelevant’ to name a few scandals.
He warned: ‘But once it goes past a certain point, I’ve got a short fuse — there’s no turning back. It’s on.’
And explained the motivation behind his decision to join Big Brother.
Metro’s deputy TV editor Sabrina Barr on why ITV should remove Mickey Rourke
I don’t care if axing him from the show would be a detrimental financial decision. After the way we all saw him act when he met Odudu – brazenly touching her despite her protestations for him to stop looking at her – ITV should have cut their losses and got him out.
While there are some fans who are justifiably furious about his behaviour, others have horrifyingly found him comical, hailing the ‘chaos’ and ‘Entertainment’ that they believe Rourke is going to bring to Celebrity Big Brother.
‘This show is the gift that keeps on giving,’ one fan called @HelloItsLevi wrote on X.
‘I needed a scandal this season and I believe Mickey Rourke will provide it,’ another named @adammdaveyy added.
No – we don’t need Rourke in the Big Brother House for the sake of creating a scandal.
I don’t need to watch a man who sends shivers down my spine in the worst possible way to be entertained. The bar is extraordinarily low if that’s what viewers are lapping up.
‘It was between this or a really bad independent movie, and I’ve had it up to here with really bad independent movies.
‘So I said, you know what? Let’s go do that thing in England. I want to go to London anyway.
‘I know nothing about this show. I’m not worried — I don’t care about any bad habits I might have for the world to see.’
Now he is taking inspiration from the way Mick Jagger ‘reinvented’ himself, claiming he is ‘not the guy that went out eight nights a week picking up supermodels.’
His latest comeback attempt has kicked off to a heavily criticised start following the backlash to him ‘ogling’ Odudu.
One audience member on the Late & Live episode asked the presenter (who is co-hosting with WIll Best) if she was okay to which she replied: ‘I’m absolutely tip-top’ as ITV opts to keep Rourke in the house.
He is joined by an impressive cohort of housemates including JoJo Siwa, Angelica Bell, Trisha Goddard and Danny Beard.
Elsewhere in the show so far there have been hints of a ‘showmance’ brewing between Towie star Ella Rae Wise, 24, and Love Islander Chris Hughes, 32.
Ahead of entering the house the newly-single Ella teased that there is ‘nothing wrong’ with an innocent flirt’ so time will tell if this potential connection goes anywhere.
Celebrity Big Brother continues tonight at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.