Mickey Rourke, the former boxer who made the switch to acting back in the late 1970s, has said fellow actor Tom Cruise is “irrelevant… in my world.”
Mickey Rourke is considered an accomplished actor. He’s been nominated for, arguably the most prestigious acting award, an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, and has won many other accolades such as a BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Actor.
And Rourke is well aware of his talent. The actor, best known for his roles in The Wrestler, Sin City and Iron Man 2, said rather un-modestly during a recent appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored that he’s “got more ability than most actors that are walking around”.
Rourke then proceeded to trash talk Tom Cruise when Piers Morgan asked for Rouke’s thoughts on Top Gun: Maverick making more than $1 billion at the box office.
“That doesn’t mean **** to me, the guy’s been doing the same effing part for 35 years. You know, I mean, I got no respect for that.”
Miceky Rourke
So, who does Rouke respect in terms of acting? As it turns out, there are plenty of actors Rourke wants to “be like”.
“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, uh, Richard Harris’ work and Ray Winstone’s work. That’s the kind of actor I want to be like. Monty Clift and, you know, Brando back in the day. A lot of guys that just tried to stretch as actors…”
Mickey Rourke
After naming all these names, Morgan pushed Rourke and queried whether Rourke thinks Cruise is a “good actor”. To which Rourke replied,
“I think he’s irrelevant, in my world.”
Mickey Rourke
Ouch. Cruise, of course, is a celebrated actor; he’s been nominated for three Best Actor Academy Awards. And whether you agree with Rourke or not about Cruise being “irrelevant”, there’s no denying Cruise is incredibly committed to acting – the guy was willing to go through extreme G-forces and perform extremely dangerous stunts for his craft.
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