Mickey Rourke has made it clear that he doesn’t rate Tom Cruise as an actor. At all.
The 69-year-old hit out at the Top Gun star in a bizarre rant and called the star “irrelevant” during a TV interview.
He was asked how he felt about the success of Top Gun: Maverick in an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored – and Rourke replied in no uncertain terms.
“That doesn’t mean sh** to me,” he said.
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“The guy’s been doing the same effing part for 35 years. I got no respect for that.”
Explaining his reasoning, Rourke went on to say: “I don’t care about money and power. I care about when I watch Al Pacino work and Chris Walken and De Niro’s early work and Richard Harris’s work and Ray Winstone’s work.
The actor didn't hold back in his criticism TalkTV/Paramount
“That’s the kind of actor I want to be like. Monty Clift and Brando back in the day.”
When asked if he thought Cruise was a good actor, he replied: “I think he’s irrelevant, in my world.”
Rourke's comments have sparked a debate with some agreeing and disagreeing with him.
\u201cHere\u2019s the thing. It doesn\u2019t even matter because if and when Mickey Rourke makes a movie that gets a theatrical release again, Tom Cruise will be there front and center. And he\u2019ll clap too, no matter what.\u201d— Richard Newby (@Richard Newby) 1657588829
\u201cMickey Rourke is currently on his 22nd face and he thinks Tom Cruise is irrelevant. \ud83d\ude10\u201d— JenniferW (@JenniferW) 1657585764
\u201cIs there a reason this guy is asking Mickey Rourke (that\u2019s him???) his opinion about Tom Cruise!? I don\u2019t understand why this is news??\u201d— Kirsten Johnsen (@Kirsten Johnsen) 1657590371
\u201cMickey Rourke calling Tom Cruise 'irrelevant' is ... ironic.\u201d— Jeremy St.Louis \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 (@Jeremy St.Louis \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6) 1657587473
\u201cWell, to be honest, Tom Cruise is "irrelevant" in my world as well.\n\nAlso, Mickey Rourke no longer looks like Mickey Rourke.\u201d— David Vincent Yancey (@David Vincent Yancey) 1657580368
\u201cLots of people dunking on this, and Rourke\u2019s an easy target, but I think it\u2019s pretty undeniable that Cruise was a more interesting, risk-taking actor 20-30 years ago than he is now.\u201d— Guy Lodge (@Guy Lodge) 1657602140
Cruise is currently enjoying the biggest box office success of his career, with Top Gun: Maverick breaking the $1 billion mark worldwide.
Rourke, meanwhile, is best known for films such as The Wrestler, Anger Heart and 9½ Weeks.
It’s not the first time Rourke has taken a dig at high-profile acting performances. Back in 2021, he hit out at the stars of Marvel films – saying that the performances in Law & Order: SVU are far superior to the big-budget franchise.
Posting about the stars of the TV series, he wrote: “Respect to all of you, the work that you all do is real acting, not like that crap that all on Marvel s***.”
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