Mickey Rourke Quotes

Theater actors are just tolerated. You have to be a movie star to be a celebrity.

Isn't that the definition of a star? Someone who can get a film made?

Hollywood is tied hand and foot to the demands for artificiality of the masses all over the world.

Hollywood sold its stars on good looks and personality buildups. We weren't really actresses in a true sense, we were just big names - the products of a good publicity department.

When a movie star sits and talks to you, it's almost always, and only, because she's promoting something.

Many a public figure has come to imitate the journalism which describes him.

Today, most big stars want scripts to be written in a particular way, show them in a certain light. They want people to like them for various reasons. It's all about how much people will like me in this film than about whether it's a good film or not.

I know a lot of actors use media just to garner publicity. I keep away from all this.

I have a problem with the blatant celebrity exhibitionism that happens in this business and being sold purely as a brand.

With acting, there is a level of anonymity which is conducive to your profession. There are examples of very public people who are on the cover of every celebrity magazine but can't open a film.

If you are the kind of guy who draws in 100 million people to see his film, you've got every right to be paid accordingly, but I qualify as a character actor. I don't put a bum on a seat.

Inside every TV star is a movie star screaming to get out, and Donna Frenzel, with whom I'm guessing you're not instantly familiar, made George Clooney a movie star once and for all in the first ten minutes of his fifth feature, 1998's 'Out of Sight.'

Do I think the West End relies too heavily on star names? Yes, I do, and it can result in miscasting and sub-standard stuff. Not always, but occasionally.

There's a very specific thing you can do to get in magazines. I'm much happier to just show up and do the job. I haven't taken the active approach to making myself a star. I haven't been in a blockbuster.

Films are now made by accountants. They pick a pretty young female or male face out of the air and give them a part - not because they think that person is right for it or is ready for it, but because they think that person will make them money.

I don't stage my own publicity.

Producers and studios know what sells. It's nice to be one of the guys that can help sell a movie by taking his shirt off.

To pursue a career in Hollywood you have to have a personality bypass. Look at the top 20 stars in the world - there's probably only two actors among them. Hollywood's not about you as an actor. It's about your currency, what you 'bring to the table'. And I've never been one to jump through hoops for anyone.

There are certainly laws and elements that make a film more accessible to mainstream audiences. If you've got Tom Cruise as a strongman, I'm sure it would have larger audiences, but it wouldn't have the same substance.

There are certain people who have become better artists, but they're brilliant at marketing. I think someone who's been phenomenal like that is Madonna.

We weren't going to play the show-biz game, and be obsequious.

Being an actor in Hollywood involves lots of things beyond acting. Charm really helps.

I never 'went Hollywood.' Perhaps some of my behavior was detrimental to my career, but I couldn't go the route of Hollywood parties.

Samuel L. Jackson is one of the best actors there is.

Obama was 200 percent advertising. I promote myself to sell my brands. Because now I am a kind of celeb. I am in a different world than the fashion industry. I am with Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Madonna. I build me as a celebrity.