Mickey Rourke launched a scathing attack on Top Gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise, calling him “irrelevant” as an actor while also accusing him of playing the same part “for 35 years.”
Rourke on Monday made an appearance on the British TV show Piers Morgan Uncensored, where he discussed, among other things, the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014.
During the episode, host Piers Morgan asked Rourke how he felt about seeing Cruise topping the box office with his phenomenally successful sequel to the 1986 classic Top Gun, which was released in May.
“That doesn’t mean s*** to me,” Rourke responded. “The guy’s been doing the same effing part for 35 years. I got no respect for that.”
“I don’t care about money and power,” The Wrestler star went on. “I care about when I watch Al Pacino work and Chris Walken and [Robert] De Niro’s early work and Richard Harris’s work and Ray Winstone’s work. That’s the kind of actor I want to be like. Monty Clift and [Marlon Brandon] back in the day.”
“You don’t think Tom Cruise is a good actor?” Morgan pressed, prompting Rourke to respond: “I think he’s irrelevant, in my world.”
Newsweek reached out to a representative of Cruise for comment.
This is not the first time that Rourke has given his critical views on the works of others in the acting industry. Last year, the screen star hit out at Marvel movies, as well as the actors who have taken starring roles in them.
In a May 2021 Instagram post, the Rumble Fish star expressed his then newfound appreciation for the long-running TV show Law & Order: SVU, before taking the opportunity to share a less-than-glowing take on the works of others.
Revealing in his lengthy caption that he started watching the show while isolated at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Rourke praised the actors, including Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Christopher Meloni, Stephanie March, and BD Wong.
He added: “Respect to all of you, the work that you all do is real acting, not like that crap that all on Marvel s**t.”
While speaking with Fox News in March, Rourke credited younger filmmakers with reviving his movie career after he was allegedly “blacklisted by Hollywood for 13 to 15 years” amid rumors that he was difficult to work with.
“The young guys are cool,” Rourke said. “They don’t care about what they hear. They judge me by my acting ability, not my old reputation. So it’s been sort of a resurrection of being able to work with younger directors.
“I have a love/hate relationship with acting. I enjoy what I’m doing at the moment because I can give everything that I’m taught. I have my confidence. I went through the s*** that I went through, so I’m able to use it in my performances,” he added.
“I could be standing across from any f***ing actor. And I know that motherf****r has not seen, done or been through what I’ve been through.”
