Mickey Rourke has admitted he is doing Celebrity Big Brother as his career is “in the toilet”.
The 72-year-old actor, who has co-starred in films alongside Robert De Niro, Kim Basinger and Bruce Willis, made the admission ahead of his controversial entrance into the compound alongside singer Chesney Hawkes, presenter Trisha Goddard and soap star Patsy Palmer on Monday (7 April).
Rourke, who was criticised for “ogling” host AJ Odudu in the launch episode, candidly described his film career as a “sinking ship” while speaking in his only interview about signing up to the reality show.
The actor’s credits include psychological horror Angel Heart, erotic thriller 9 1/2 Weeks, Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Iron Man 2 and Darren Aronofsky’s drama The Wrestler, for which he received an Oscar nomination in 2009.
But he has taken accountability for the fact he is no longer offered big roles, admitting to The Sun: “I’ve made mistakes – many. I have nobody to blame for my ship sinking except myself.
“I’d like to be back where I can work on movies that have integrity.”
Rourke, who has worked with filmmakers including Steven Spielberg (1941), Michael Cimino (Heaven’s Gate), Francis Ford Coppola (Rumble Fish) and Robert Rodriguez (Sin City), said there are directors he “wants to work with” who are “afraid” of his reputation, which he said attributed to his “short fuse”.
He said he chose doing Celebrity Big Brother over “a really bad independent movie”, adding: “I’ve had it up to here with really bad independent movies. So I said, you know what? Let’s go do that thing in England. I want to go to London anyway.”
Ahead of Rourke’s entrance, which was leaked last week, The Independent’s Adam White wrote that the actor’s participation was “acutely depressing” he has “a frustrating propensity for self-sabotage”.
However, Rourke is hoping he’ll be able to keep his temper as the producers have supplied him with a gym, which he said “really helps settle my mind”.
Rourke continued: “I’ve been given a lot and I’m grateful that I’ve been given what I have. I try to say this when I worry about my career being in the toilet. I’ve got it a lot better than a lot of other people have.”
In his entrance VT, he revealed that he is good friends with actor Ray Winstone, and said he advised him to “have fun” in the house.
Rourke joins housemates including former child reality star Jojo Siwa, broadcaster Trisha Goddard, Coronation Street actor Jack P Shepherd and former Conservative MP Michael Fabricant.
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