Mickey Rourke interview

A DIFFERENT KIND OF SPIN

In town promoting his latest movie Spun, Tiscali caught up with Hollywood bad boy Mickey Rourke

When the first thing a Hollywood superstar tells you about the film they are promoting is that they haven't seen it, you begin to worry. Perhaps this is going to be one of those interviews full of awkward pauses and stilted moments. But when the star in question is Mickey Rourke there is little danger of that. The man is awash with charm, and his alarming honesty is a welcome respite from the typical A-list pat question-and-answer sessions.

Rourke is in town to promote his new film Spun, a controversial look at the effects of speed addiction among a group of disparate Angelenos. Despite featuring a cast of newly-established stars some twenty years his younger (Jason Schwartzman, Mena Suvari, Brittany Murphy and John Leguizamo), Rourke steals the show. As the Cook, Rourke purveys crystal meths to the local junkies from his distillery in a seedy motel, making a welcome return to the big screen playing a character that looks likely to explode into rage at any second.

Not only has he not seen the film, he wasn't too impressed when he was first approached. 'I didn't much care for the script', he confesses. 'It didn't appeal to me at all'. But what did appeal to him was the prospect of working with director Jonas Akerlund (who has directed high-profile videos for the likes of Madonna and The Prodigy, as well as a stint as drummer for legendary Swedish death rockers Bathory). It's clear the two forged a manly friendship during the shoot.

Rourke chain-smokes Marlboro Reds throughout the conversation and manages to appear both fidgety and extremely relaxed at the same time. For a man who took years out of his Hollywood existence to become a full-time boxer ('I have nothing but regrets') he looks remarkably chipper and retains the distinctive looks that made him a poster-boy for a mean and moody side of the 80s. In fact, he arguably looks better than ever, and given the rumours of reconstructive surgery, his plastic surgeon's telephone number must be a hot commodity in Hollywood.