So then came another round of boxing, and Rourke fought in Spain and Japan and was undefeated in eight fights, with six wins and two draws. But the actor, then 39, was too old to be pitted against the best in the business, and this underdog story was clearly more about fighting inner demons than anything else.
Why not then play a boxer instead? Rourke, known for turning down an unbelievable streak of massively prominent roles -- including The Untouchables, Rain Man, Beverly Hills Cop and Highlander -- was perfect for the role of Butch Coolidge in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Tarantino insisted on Rourke but the tough guy, for reasons only known to himself, refused to budge, and the role went to Bruce Willis, granting him instant respectability as a serious actor.
Rourke himself did a bunch of supporting roles through the late 1990s, but none really helped him over the top, his most prominent work being that of the bad guy in an Enrique Iglesias music video in 2001.
In 2005, however, Tarantino's buddy Robert Rodriguez cast him in the lead role as Marv in his breathtaking adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City. Rourke wowed everybody who saw the film, and the old stud was back with a roar.
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