Mickey Rourke is not an actor who is known for his circumspect actions or speech. He has been enjoying Hollywood's warm embrace over the past several years, however. So it was somewhat surprising (and wholly refreshing) to hear Rourke speak with an intriguing combination of humility and candor about his recent and past experiences as an actor at this weekends press event for director Tarsem Singh's latest visual extravaganza, Immortals. Rourke provided some insight into his reservations about his potential participation in Sin City 2, as well as his frustrations while working on Iron Man 2.

The dialogue opened with congratulations to Rourke on his upcoming inclusion in the Hollywood walk of fame. The actor gave an immediate sense of how the discussion would evolve when he said that it probably meant more to us than it did to him, as "everyone" is getting a star on the walk nowadays. The actor did indicate that the honor may come to mean more to him at some point in his life, and that his return to the fold of highly-visible working actors is something he is deeply thankful for.

"To be honest with you, after I was out of work thirteen, fourteen years (or whatever the hell it was) I remember I went back to Cannes with Rodriguez for "Sin City" and I was sitting in the car and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m getting a chance again.’ Because all the years go by, and it’s thirteen years, and you’re living in a room. After like seven years go by you think, ‘Yeah, I really f**ked up.’ And then ten years go by and it’s like, 'They’re not gonna let me back in the door again.' Especially I was out here (Los Angeles) and this is the worst place to be when they grind you into the ground, and they can’t wait to do it. And I helped them do it. I really thought I could turn it around in a year or two and they’d let me back in, but it just didn’t happen.

And so I thought it’s too shameful and degrading to feel like this. I was really close to going back to Miami and doin’ I don’t know what, but I wasn’t gonna sit around and be yesterday’s news. That’s just too hard. I remember buying a pack of cigarettes. I was in the line and it was like two in the morning. Some a**hole, some fat guy goes, ‘Hey didn’t you used to be…?’ (laughs) Oh, God, and he mentioned the wrong name! I remember walking two blocks going, ‘Oh f**k!’ I’m very grateful that period is over. And I’m very capable of having that happen again so I’ve gotta watch myself on a daily basis, you know?"

Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2

The actor does put a good measure of focus on maintaining his current professional behavior. Rourke knows that like an addict "falling off the wagon" could mean the end of everything he has worked so hard to build for himself over the past several years.

"I could be right back where I was, so it’s like a guy who gets out of jail. You’ve got to behave. I had to change. There’s a big part of myself that’s never gonna change – certain things. But I did have to change. Realize that I had to be accountable. Before there were no rules with me and I wasn’t accountable. I didn’t care what the consequences are and now I do. There’s a part of me when I work with this doctor, I’m trying to put all these pieces together. He calls that change. Change for me was really hard because I had built myself up to be a certain kind of man my whole life, as men are where I come from. I thought I got to handle things different that’s gonna make me feel like a real pussy. For me it was hard to turn the other cheek. Even though it’s a stronger choice. It was very hard to make the change, but I had to in order to survive. Otherwise they would have won."

Immortals opens in theaters on November 11th.

We will keep you updated on Sin city 2 as details emerge.

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