People in the movie business tend to hold grudges longer than most, which shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise given how cutthroat the industry is, not to mention how fierce the competition becomes the more successful that you get.
Bygones are very rarely allowed to become bygones, and Hollywood history is littered with feuds between stars that have gone on for years and often decades. And based on Iron Man 2 star Mickey Rourke’s recent comments, it looks as though his fractured relationship with Robert De Niro isn’t going to find itself getting repaired any time soon.
The two first worked together way back in 1987 noir Angel Heart when Rourke was in the midst of his ascendancy as a fast-rising young talent, but they had a falling out that led to raised tensions on the set, and even three decades later it appears that those wounds still haven’t healed. The Sin City star claimed last year that Martin Scorsese wanted him to play a role in The Irishman, but De Niro emphatically denied the story when he publicly called Rourke a liar.
It seems that the 67 year-old has only just found out about De Niro’s comments, and he doesn’t seem very happy about them. Rourke launched a foul-mouthed tirade in his rival’s direction on social media recently and he certainly didn’t hold back his thoughts.
“Hey Robert De Niro, that’s right I am talking to you, you big f*cking crybaby. A friend of mine just recently told me that a few months back you’re quoted as saying to newspapers, ‘Mickey Rourke’s a liar, he talks all kind of sh*t’. Listen Mr. Tough Guy in the movies, you’re the first person that ever called me a liar and it was in a newspaper. Let me tell you something, you punk ass, when I see you I swear to god on my grandmother, on my brother, and all my dogs, I gonna embarrass you severely 100%.”
Those sound like fighting words, but based on their career trajectories, it seems unlikely that the two will be crossing paths any time soon. After all, Rourke’s comeback that kicked off with his Academy Award-nominated performance in The Wrestler quickly fizzled out and he now operates mostly in the direct-to-video relam, while De Niro recently headlined awards season favorite The Irishman and played a major supporting role in the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history.
