Oh, Mickey. What a disappointment, man. I'm a huge fan of
Mickey Rourke's acting, going back to his performance in
Angel Heart, a movie that still scares the hell out of me. It saddened me to watch his career crumble and I cheered as he made a triumphant return in first
Sin City and then
The Wrestler. So, his involvement in
Iron Man 2 was something I have been eagerly anticipating ever since he was attached to the movie. And, he doesn't disappoint. The sheer
menace of his presence on screen is enough to make you feel sorry for Tony Stark (
Robert Downey, Jr.). But, he doesn't just play a thug with whips. On the contrary, Whiplash is nearly as intelligent as Stark—and smarter than Justin Hammer (
Sam Rockwell)—and very calcuating, a much deadlier villain than
Jeff Bridges' Iron Monger in
Iron Man.
At the recent press junket, I was excited to hear what Mickey had to say about the movie and was expecting him to bring at least a little of the charsima that he brings to his movie roles with him, but he was barely there. Mickey had a hard time keeping his eyes open and was clearly bored, resting his head in his hands, picking his teeth with a piece of paper, holding up his sunglasses to clean them of spots...he just didn't seem to care.
The first question he was asked was whether he enjoyed his role in
Iron Man 2, and he had to be prompted to give more than a one-sentence response.
"I had a lot of fun...I just woke up. Naw, it was great. I worked with some great people. This one here [gesturing to director Jon Favreau] is really easy to work with, which makes it fun. It was nice. I just came off working on a film and there was no budget. I didn't even have a chair to sit in. I remember the first day, I asked for a cappuccino and he said, 'What kind would you like?'" Rourke shares more screen time with Rockwell than anyone else in the movie and apparently enjoyed working with the actor, but all he could muster for a comment about his co-star was an anecdote about a scene that doesn't even make the final cut.
"We had a great time. We had a lot of fun. I think we were doing this improvisation [in the movie] where I said, 'Bring me some vodka,' or 'This wine is sh*t,' and he dumped it over and said, 'Yeah, this is sh*t.'"