Tom Cruise's latest movie has made over $1 billion at the box office, but one fellow actor does not count himself amongst the film's many fans. In a new interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored, Mickey Rourke was asked about the star and Top Gun: Maverick's success, and the Wrestler actor slammed Cruise as "irrelevant" and added that he has "no respect" for him. Read on to find out what else Rourke had to say and why he not a fan of one of the biggest movie stars of all time.
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Rourke wasn't wowed by Top Gun: Maverick.
In his interview with Piers Morgan (warning: there's some strong language in the above clip), Rourke was asked what he thinks of Cruise's movie Top Gun: Maverick making over $1 billion 36 years after the original Top Gun was released.
"That doesn’t mean [expletive] to me," the Angel Heart star replied. "The guy’s been doing the same effing part for 35 years. I got no respect for that."
While Rourke didn't go into specifics, he's undoubtedly referring to Cruise primarily playing heroes in action films over recent years, including six Mission: Impossible movies with two more sequels on the way.
He doesn't respect Cruise's success.
Claudio Bottoni / ShutterstockRourke went on to list out some of the actors whose careers he does enjoy and admire, unlike Cruise's.
"I don’t care about money and power," Rourke said. "I care about when I watch Al Pacino work and Chris Walken and [Robert] De Niro’s early work and Richard Harris’ work and Ray Winstone’s work. That’s the kind of actor I want to be like. Monty Clift and [Marlon] Brando back in the day. A lot of guys just trying to stretch as actors.
Morgan then asked Rourke whether he thinks of Cruise as a good actor. "I think he’s irrelevant, in my world," Rourke responded.
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He's slammed Cruise before.
Kathy Hutchins / ShutterstockIn 2005, Cruise criticized Brooke Shields during a Today interview for taking antidepressant medication when she was diagnosed postpartum depression. His anti-psychiatry stance was tied to Cruise's Scientology beliefs. Scientologists oppose psychiatry and view it as abuse.
Shields spoke out in response to Cruise's words, as did Rourke.
"My therapist saved my [expletive] life and my career," Rourke once said, as reported by IrishCentral. "I don't care what Tom Cruise says about therapy. [Expletive] him. Picking on poor Brooke Shields. People need medicine and they need therapists. Let the Scientologists go [expletive] live on a planet of their own."
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The two actors crossed paths early in their careers.
Rene Teichmann / ShutterstockWhile Cruise and Rourke have never been co-stars, they almost were back in the '80s. In a 1986 interview with the Los Angeles Times—around the time that the original Top Gun was released—Cruise spoke about seeing Rourke at acting workshops for the 1983 movie The Outsiders. According to Parade, Rourke was one of many famous stars who auditioned for the film but did not make the cut.
“They give you so much back,” Cruise said of participating in workshops, even as his career was taking off. “God, I still remember Mickey Rourke coming to the workshops we had for The Outsiders. I know my role in that film was a nothing role, but, to have worked with Francis [Ford Coppola]. That’s what I did it for.”
