Mickey Rourke is a veteran actor who is no stranger to action movies. He picked up an Oscar nomination for his role in The Wrestler, but may be best known for starring in the likes of The Expendables and Iron Man 2.
However, the actor is now making headlines after sharing some blunt criticisms about one of the summer's biggest blockbusters, Top Gun: Maverick. That saw Tom Cruise return to the role of Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, but Rourke isn't remotely impressed by the movie's financial success.
"That doesn't mean shit to me," he says in the video below. "That guy's been doing the same effing part for 35 years."
"I got no respect for that. I don’t care about money or power. I care about...when I-when I watch Al Pacino or Christopher Walken working, or De Niro’s early work and Richard Harris and Ray Winstone, that’s the kind of actor I want to be like," Rourke continues. "A lot of guys that tried to stretch as actors."
Asked if he thinks Cruise is a good actor, he responded: "I think he's irrelevant, in my world."
Clearly, something has happened there that we don't know about!
Top Gun: Maverick has quickly become the biggest hit of Cruise's career, and there's already chatter online about another sequel. As for Rourke, his career has largely stalled in recent years, no great surprise following rumours that he's notoriously difficult to work with (the actor's comeback following The Wrestler was surprisingly short-lived).
With that in mind, there may be some professional jealousy here, but there are those who may agree with the undeniable similarities between the characters Cruise plays!
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