Thanks to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mickey Rourke has provided some in-depth insight on his upcoming film Passion Play. Having apparently just wrapped shooting, the film centers on a troubled trumpet player (Rourke) and a winged angel (none other than Megan Fox) who attempt to rescue each other from their desperate circumstances. According to Rourke, the project is nearly ten years in the making, and his relationship with writer/director Mitch Glazer dates all the way back to the days they went to high school together.
The character Rourke portrays is named Nate, and the actor shares a line that he thinks goes a long way to define the character. Notice any similarities to Randy “The Ram”?:
I’ve messed up most of my life. I’ve only had two things: my music and my dope, but in the end it’s always been my dope.
The most notable portion of this interview was the way Rourke talked about co-star Megan Fox. As he puts it, she’s “probably the best young actress I’ve ever worked with…At 23, I couldn’t do half of what she’s doing.” Interestingly enough, this comes only a little more than a year after he continuously dished out high praise for his young Wrestler co-star Evan Rachel Wood. As you may have guessed, Rourke wasn’t at a loss for words when it comes to The Wrestler:
Well, The Wrestler was quite tough. There wasn’t much chemistry there. Uh, that’s a whole other conversation. With Megan and I, there’s a lot of chemistry and a lot of respect. We’re both comfortable with each other. As far as the redemption is concerned, it’s almost fate. It’s not so much that my character is seeking redemption, it’s almost like it falls in my lap by accident. And I try and hold on to it as much as I can.
Some may (and already have) view that quote as an insult towards Wood, but I see it in a different light. Watching The Wrestler, you can tell that the film was built entirely around Rourke, and as a result, the chemistry between him and his female co-stars was perhaps not as developed off-screen as one might think. However, with Passion Play, a film that seems completely built around a mutual relationship, it is very believable that he would develop a better relationship with Megan Fox. If they’re on screen very often, they’re likely to have a more defined relationship off screen as well.
One last thing I’d like to highlight from this interview is the supporting role of Bill Murray, who plays the sinister gangster going after Nate. Rourke had some interesting things to say about seeing Murray deliver a performance much different than ones he’s given in the past:
Bill came aboard after another actor pulled out, and I think his unpredictability was a very interesting choice on Mitch’s part. It made me scratch my head in the beginning, but I kind of like the fact that Mitch went against the grain and didn’t use a Hollywood stereotype. Less is more. Bill Murray isn’t your typical scary, spooky guy, and there’s something very unnerving about a guy with a sort of off-the-wall sense of delivery. It’s very unexpected. Some of your worst gangsters are guys who were very low-key.
Considering how much I loved Rourke in The Wrestler, pretty much anything with his name on it will peak my interest, but this is a very bold subject matter, one that could be hit or miss.
Based on Rourke’s comments in this interview, do you think that Passion Play has the potential to be his first noteworthy follow up to The Wrestler?