Mickey Rourke: Sean Penn A "Homophobe" And "Average" Actor

Daily Beast:

In a private text message obtained by The Daily Beast, Mickey Rourke bashes Sean Penn--his chief rival in the Oscar race--as a "homophobe" and an "average" actor.

Whistleblower has learned from several entertainment industry sources, that Mickey Rourke--whose extraordinary comeback performance in The Wrestler is garnering him early praise as a shoo-in for a best actor Oscar nomination--is trash talking his likely toughest competitor, Sean Penn, whose acting in Milk has earned rave reviews.

After his December 23 appearance on David Letterman, Rourke told someone backstage that he was surprised that so many people seemed to think that Penn was his Oscar competition since "I'm not even sure he'll get a nomination."

Read the whole story: Daily Beast

Comments

[Kurt]

Loved "Milk," never heard of "Wrestler." And I do not believe Penn is a homophobe but if he is -- this raises the question of whether something is forever tainted if a "bad" person does something good . "Bad" 1-5 on a scale of 10 -- "1" represents something like speeding or telling a white lie "10" represents the Holocaust. And the converse, does use of an object or the creation of something "bad" by a good person make something forever "good?"

[Pupster]

I'm sorry, but are you saying that Penn taking on the part of Harvey Milk makes him "good"?

[aznurse]

Is this a math question?

[bubbuh]

Some folks just can't stand prosperity.

[scubalady]

Wasn't Sean Penn the guy who gave Rourke a chance to play in a good movie (the 1st for him in years)in 2001: The Pledge ,oppossite great actors like Nicholson, del Toro, Sam Shepard and Robin Wright Penn? And this was a time when directors and studios weren't exactly besieging him.

I don't remember Rourke being so negative about Penn at that time. Maybe, we can take a sure bet here and say that Rourke won't figure any time soon in the casting of a Penn's movie.

[stringer]

Mad Penn's gonna get that Best Actor Oscar for "Milk" instead of you for "The Wrestler", huh Mickey?

Too bad. Want to hear the even sadder part? You gave the best performance of your career, Rourke and the best we've seen in several years from anyone. And Sean Penn STILL blew it away in Milk.

He's better on his worst day than you on your best, Rourke. You're not half the actor he is and never will be. Life's unfair.

Sean Penn should laugh this off, take his Oscar, and thank Mickey Rourke on the way off stage.

[Pupster]

The Oscar nominations aren't out yet.

[mike121212]

Are we supposed to take this story seriously? The source is The Daily Beast (whatever that is) and they supposedly know about a text message that was sent to someone. Wow, hard-hitting news.

[HHarvey]

Believe it. Mickey has a past reputation for being mouthy. He's not shy about his opinions of other actors.

[ewj1]

Rourke is right Penn is only an average actor but his movie choices are very good. Rourke is probably a better actor but his movie choices are awful. Spun, Get Carter, Cousin Joey are just a few of his (Rourke's) mistakes.

With the exception of Shanghai Surprise most f Penn movies have been OK to great.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

Penn is an above average actor, but you're essentially right.

Penn's choices (except for Shanghai Surprise, which Madonna probably forced him to do as part of their marriage agreement) have been exemplary.

Rourke's, on the other hand, have been at times godawful.

[kellygrrrl]

let us review 2008 professional accomplishments, shall we:
Sean Penn: Harvey Milk - probable multiple Best Actor awards to come
Mickey Rourke: The Wrestler - probable punchline to many jokes to come

[Pupster]

That doesn't seem very fair. Have you seen both movies?

[kellygrrrl]

yes, just viewed an early copy of The Wrestler. On a positive note, I thought Evan Rachel Wood gave a good performance

[LokiBaby]

Let's take a look at ALL Mr. Rourke's accomplishments for "The Wrestler".
********************************************************************************
* Venice Film Festival - Gloden Lion - Best Film - 2008
* Toronto Film Critics Association - Best Actor - 2008
* Washington DC Area Film Critics - Best Actor - 2008
* San Francisco Film Critics - Best Actor - 2008 TIE with Sean Penn
* San Diego Film Critics - Best Actor - 2008
* Chicago Film Critics Assoc. - Best Actor - 2008
* Florida Film Critics Circle - Best Actor - 2008
* Detroit Film Critics Society - Best Actor 2008
* Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Actor - 2008 - TIE with Sean Penn
* Broadcast Fillm Critics - Best Actor -nominated 2008
*************************************************************************
* Golden Globe - Best Actor - Drama - nominated 2009
* Independent Spirit Award - Best Male Lead - nominated - 2009
* Screen Actors Guild - Best Male Actor - nominated - 2009
*************************************************************************
It's time to stop knocking Mickey Rourke down. Give the man the recognition he deserves.

[kappa08]

This guy has always been a tragic failure and is WHY he fell so perfectly into 'The Wrestler'.

[3fingerbrown]

It's appalling that the "honcho" (that's Spanish for "unprincipled Hollywood weasel") would release to the press a message, from one private citizen to another, never intended for public consumption and hurtful to an innocent third party--and it's even more appalling that anyone would publish it. Or is it just a publicity gimmick for Penn's Oscar campaign? Either way, this item stinks. Why trade in trash like this?

[meleon]

I just saw a Charlie Rose interview with Brad Pitt and he named Rourke and Penn as his two acting idols and the reason I wanted to give it a shot. Ironically he's also in the running for an Oscar nod in the same cat as his idols, but he's competing with both for GG's too.

Hollywood couldn't come up with this stuff.

[Bramble8]

Oh please... Rourke has made one entertaining movie in his "career". Who cares what he thinks about Sean Penn or anything else.

[forpeace]

*

Who the hell is Mickey Rourke?!

I think Sean Penn is a great actor and a nice human being ..... something rare to find these days.

*

[LittlePurpleUSA]

Would not want to be in the middle of these 2 if the fistacuffs were a flying

[jojojo]

If Rourke did this, it's really a self-destructive thing to do, really foolish but, alas, right in keeping with his track record. Naomi Watts dumped on Charlize Theron in only slightly less aggressive language when she was up for 21 Grams, i think, while Theron was nominated for Monster. I agreed, thinking Watts was much better, and that Theron was the "in" vote that year.

[sophieozz]

There was an article on Rourke a few weeks ago in the New York Times Magazine that shows he's not always prone to speaking the truth. Maybe he was just funnin' when he made these statements.