Rourke rose further up the Hollywood heirarchy with The Pope Of Greenwich Village, a Michael Cimino film which got co-star Darryl Hannah an Oscar nomination. Then came the steamy 9 1/2 Weeks with Kim Basinger, a film that earned him the improbable tag of sex-symbol. All this even as he fantastically played poet Charles Bukowski's alter-ego in Barfly.
Bigger films came, like Alan Parker's Angel Heart, and Mickey Rourke was suddenly a star, especially admired by the French and European audiences. He'd started writing screenplays and things looked to be on track.
Yet 'on track' was never a state of affairs that quite suited Rourke. He became increasingly difficult to work with, made inexplicable career decisions, and was a nightmare on the sets. His personal life meanwhile collapsed into chaos, with him eventually being charged for spousal abuse.
Co-star Basinger called him 'the human ashtray' and Rourke, doing nothing to shrug off such perceptions, decided that he didn't like the effect Hollywood had on him.
Also Read: The Golden Globes: On the Red Carpet
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