Quotes from Mickey Rourke

I had a lot of anger inside me and that came out at times that were not particularly advantageous to me career-wise.

I didn't have a childhood, really, because I worked my whole life and... other reasons. So when I had some success, I went ballistic. That was my childhood, and the party kept going on.

I did think for many, many years that because of my ability I could beat the system. And I was wrong.

Hollywood's famous for putting you in a box.

I never look backwards. I have always been an athlete. I boxed before I acted.

When you're young, working in a warehouse or selling hot dogs, you look at work - at acting - as something precious. It gets you out of the stink.

I'm the worst surfer in California. My balance is off from boxing.

You know, back in acting school they always teach you, 'Make bold choices and look for activities that are interesting.'

Where I come from, being a hard man is being able to take a good beating and then get back up again and carry on fighting.

Sometimes, when a man is alone, that's all you got is your dog.

Actors should shut up about politics. They tend to be ill-informed finger-pointers who just cosy up to some flavour of-the-month liberal.

I have a really good relationship with a lot of designers. I like Gaultier, Billionaire and Cavalli.

A lot of those who let you down are those who seemed the closest to you.

To me, everything's competition.

Bounty hunters these days - because everything is so sophisticated with computers and surveillance, it doesn't have to be a one-man-army-type guy who goes in and kicks a door down.

In Hollywood, you're always playing roles... It's like going through the motions. But in real life, it's like, you gotta take care of business. It's not just the movies.

You can be mediocre, the way most actors are, and you can still be a top movie star, even if your movies are boring and predictable. All you have to do is know how to sell yourself, let yourself be manufactured.

Acting was never my first choice as a profession, but I came to terms with it when I decided I better buckle down and be the best I can be at it.

All that prosthetic makeup drains you. By the time it's lunch, you're done.

Winning an Oscar ain't about performance. There's a lot of politics involved.

The hardest thing in life to do is to change.

Once you've been somebody, really, you have a career and you're a nobody anymore, and you're getting older, you're living what's called a state of shame.

Very few men can fall as far as I have and come back. People see me and it's like they've seen a ghost, like I'm back from the dead.

I love the first Godfather movie, part one. And two.