The two biggest eras of Mickey Rourke’s acting career each come with their own distinctive look. In the 1980s, the young actor affected a brooding leading man sensibility in acclaimed dramas like “Body Heat,” “Diner,” “Rumble Fish,” and “The Pope of Greenwich Village.” After disappearing into B-movies and erotic thrillers like “Wild Orchid” and “Angel Heart,” Rourke re-emerged in the 2000s to play older, tougher, downtrodden, and world-weary characters in “Sin City” and “The Wrestler,” the latter earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
The Rourke of the 2000s barely resembled the Rourke of the ’80s, and according to the actor, that’s the result of boxing injuries and complications. Before Hollywood came calling, Rourke fought on the amateur circuit and resumed the sport during a career downturn in the 1990s. “I had my nose broken twice. I had five operations on my nose and one on a smashed cheekbone,” he told The Daily Mail. “I had to have cartilage taken from my ear to rebuild my nose and a couple of operations to scrape out the cartilage because the scar tissue wasn’t healing properly.” On top of all that, Rourke required some cosmetic surgery to make sure everything wound up looking the way it should. “But I went to the wrong guy to put my face back together,” he said.
