SIN CITY - Q&A with MICKEY ROURKE
Mickey Rourke is Marv
Whilst most everybody who has been fortunate enough to see Mickey Rourke's remarkable performance in SIN CITY has been talking about the return of Hollywood's prodigal son, the man himself prefers to wait and see what might happen.
As usual, he's painfully honest when it comes to why one of the best actors of his generation hasn't worked as much in the last ten, fifteen years as his fans would have hoped.
"I'm going to keep my mouth shut," he says with a smile. "I just don't want to make the same mistakes I made my whole life. I ****** up big time and you know, I've been paying the price for it, paying the piper and everybody else.
"If I could say it wasn't my fault I blame all these ***** out there, I could live with myself, but the fact was it was my fault and it was my anger and stuff I couldn't get over from a long time ago. I tried to make everybody else pay for it and in the end I dug a big deep dark hole for myself and yeah, I don't need to do all of that again."
Whatever the reasons for his absence, it's great to see him back. And in such fantastic form. Robert Rodriguez, who had worked with him in ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, was absolutely convinced that Rourke was the perfect actor to play Marv, the bruised and battered ultra violent but ultimately chivalrous (to women at least) small time hood who sets out to find who killed his beloved Goldie (Jaime King), a woman he had only known for 24 hours.
Rourke had to endure an hour and a half in the make up chair each morning as experts applied prosthetics to his face which makes him look virtually unrecognisable in the role of Marv.
Frank Miler grew up reading superhero comics which eventually led to the discovery of hard boiled crime writers like Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane, master of the 'pulp fiction' genre.
When Miller first showed up in New York, as a teenager desperate to make his way in the world of comic books, his early drawings featured 'guys in trench coats and beautiful women in fast cars and stuff and they not too politely told me that all they did was people in tights hitting each other."
Miller happily obliged and over the coming years built a formidable reputation at the cutting edge of comic books, both as an artist and a writer. He worked for publishers including DC and Marvel and it was his work with the latter, on Marvel's Spectacular Spider-Man, in a story in which he united the web slinging hero with another character, Daredevil, which led to Miller being given the title to develop.
He also created the powerful and extremely popular Elektra and during the early eighties, Ronin, which marked the first of many collaborations with his partner and future wife, Lynn Varley.
Miller, 48, is also credited with reinvigorating the Batman franchise thanks to his work on Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. In 1991, Frank created Sin City, drawing heavily on his knowledge of both New York and Los Angeles but mostly, his ever active and incredibly fertile imagination.
Sin City marked a return to the pulp fiction that he loved so much - a stunning landscape peopled by voluptuous broads, crooked cops, evil predators and desperate hoods who sometimes, follow their hearts and try to do the right thing. It's dark, brooding, violent, often funny and always sexy as hell.
The dialogue crackles with devastating put downs, snappy one liners and a rough poetry and rhythm which owes much to the likes of Chandler, Spillane and Dashiell Hammett and those other crime writers that Miller first fell for as a teenager.
Understandably, many filmmakers realised that the cinematic potential of Sin City was huge. But Frank Miller, who has had plenty of experience, sometimes negative, of Hollywood in the past, didn't want to compromise his vision - and felt that if he handed over the film rights, he would inevitably be doing just that.
Robert Rodriquez, however, was determined to convince Miller that his intentions were honourable. The filmmaker works in his home town of Austin, Texas and like Miller, he's a bit of an outsider, a visionary who often bucks the system to do things his way.
And the key to convincing Miller was that he wanted to translate - not adapt - Sin City to the screen. "He was reluctant in the same way I thought somebody would ruin it by turning this into a movie and that was my whole point. I said 'I've figured how to do it, we're not going to turn this into a movie, we're going to make movies into the graphic novel.'"
At his own expense, Rodriquez planned to shoot the opening sequence - featuring Josh Hartnett as a smooth talking killer - and let Miller watch. If he didn't like what he saw, then nothing more would happen. But if he did, they were in business.
"I had to reverse that whole tide of all the bad things that had happened to him and I knew if he came down and saw us shoot the opening and then he would be convinced," says Rodriquez. "He saw us there with the books opened, we were all following the shots and he was just like 'wow, this is unbelievable...'"
Rodriquez used ground breaking filming techniques to shoot the film on digital almost entirely against a green screen background - one of the few sets to actually be built was the bar which, at some point, features almost all of the vivid characters in the three different segments. It meant that the actors were often working alone with very few props.
Such was Rodriqeuz's commitment to remaining true to the integrity of the project that he wanted Frank Miller to be his co-director who would be there, by his side, every day of the shoot. But one week before the start of production, the powerful Director's Guild of America, refused Miller a co-director credit, claiming it was against their rules and Rodriquez promptly quit the DAG in protest.
"It was like obey the rules or make this movie," says Rodriquez. "I was already at a point where we were a week away from shooting, I didn't know that it was against the rules to have a second director, I'd seen multiple directors before.
"I just thought it would be better to leave than stop shooting or not shoot the movie. I mean, everyone just feels that this is something really new and exciting and different and at that point I was going to bring Quentin on as a director so they wouldn't have gone for that anyway. And you know it's better that I'm just not in that group because we have such crazy ideas, it's better than I'm just free."
The Quentin in question is a certain Mr Tarantino, his close friend and director of such classic modern masterpieces as RESERVOIR DOGS and PULP FICTION. They have a history of working together, swapping creative ideas - they both made FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, Robert scored the soundtrack for KILL BILL 2 (for a nominal sum of $1, the same fee paid to Tarantino on SIN CITY.)
This time, Robert wanted Quentin to have the chance to work with the digital technology and green screen so he invited him to direct a stunning sequence involving Clive Owen and Benicio Del Toro. So Frank Miller's SIN CITY, has not one but three directors.
It also boasts a truly exceptional ensemble cast who jumped at the chance to work with Miller, Rodriquez and - for a lucky few - Tarantino. Jessica Alba plays Nancy, an exotic stripper who is besotted with the cop who, years earlier, saved her from a murderous kidnapper; Hartigan, the cop who pays a terrible price for his heroism, is played by Bruce Willis.
Elijah Wood plays Kevin, the chilling serial killer and Clive Owen is Dwight, who helps The Ladies of the Night fight off the predatory Jackie Boy - Benicio Del Toro - and his friends.
The Ladies of the Night - the hookers who control their own patch in Sin City's Old Town - are memorably led by Gail, played by Rosario Dawson and the deadliest of all of these proud and predatory women is Miho, played by Devon Aoki.
The film also features Michael Madson as Bob, a corrupt cop, Michael Clarke Duncan as the ultimate enforcer, Manute 'a man so immense his punch is like a freight train...', Nick Stahl as the evil kidnapper known as 'Yellow Bastard' Powers Boothe as Senator Roark, Rutger Hauer as Cardinal Roark and Carla Gugino as Lucille.
Rourke, 48, was born in Miami and broke through with small but memorable performances in the likes of BODY HEAT and 1941 and as part of a strong ensemble in the bittersweet coming of age drama, DINER. He swiftly moved to leading roles, in BARFLY, RUMBLE FISH, ANGEL HEART, playing a private detective drawn into an investigation of an occult murder, and famously, in the erotic drama NINE AND HALF WEEKS.
At the peak of his career, Rourke turned his back on acting in favour of prize fighting - he was a talented boxer in his youth - and fought 11 pro bouts, not losing once. But his time away from acting affected his career and it's only recently that he's been seen back on the screen, in Tony Scott's MAN ON FIRE, with Denzil Washington, and working with the same director in DOMINO, with Keira Knightley, which will be released later in the year.
How would you describe SIN CITY?
I don't know, maybe film noir on crack. It's like a comic book coming to life and staying very true to the comic book and it worked. I don't think anybody knew if it would work. But having Frank Miller, who created Sin City, there on set, was very smart of Robert because he stayed pretty true to the storyboarding and shooting it exactly like the drawings are.
Can you identify with you character?
Sure.
In what way?
The ugliness I guess. When Marv makes up his mind to do something he goes all the way and does it and doesn't think about the consequences. I used to do stuff like that.
There can't be a lot of vanity involved in taking on a character like Marv...
Why you didn't think Marv was good looking? (Laughs)
Not necessarily....
I'm surprised. A lot of women tell me they find him very attractive.
But it's such a transformation. Was it a surprise to see how it panned out?
Well, we did it in stages. Robert has a very good make up family that he works with on all of his films and when we did in and did the test they were like 'well, let's try this kind of nose, let's try this chin, this forehead...' and so we broke it down in stages and that was the last choice, what you saw. And it was like 'well we still want it to be Mickey, but we want it to be Marv, we want it to be Marv and Mickey.'
What did they put you through?
They got it down to about an hour and fifteen minutes every day depending on if I could sit still or not. The hardest part of the whole movie was doing the make up.
I understand that Jaime King only ever addressed you as Marv. Why did you feel you wanted to be Marv and exist in him for the whole shoot?
I don't remember talking to her outside the set.
But you obviously inhabited the character...
It's like we went to work and the actors in the movie who were in make up or whatever, I've never seen them outside of make up, so if I bumped into 'em, like the girl you just mentioned, if I bumped into her on the street, I wouldn't even recognise her. I'd recognise her from the movie when she was all done up. So it was work all the time, pretty much.
What are the pros and cons of green screen?
There really aren't any. I can say it depends who you are working with. Rodriguez has a way of making it really comfortable so green screen doesn't seem so alien to you. Let's say they don't have the actor there, he'll do it and then they will put the actor in later. He knows exactly what he wants so it wasn't that much trouble doing the green screen.
Were you happy not having another actor to bounce off?
I would prefer having the actor there, depending on the actor. I would have liked it if Elijah Wood had been there, you know, but he was off somewhere, we did the green screen and Robert was able to put him in later. What makes it funny, I said this earlier, it was like I met Elijah at a party and we kidded around and said 'it was nice working with you.' In fact we never saw each other. So it's only uncomfortable if you let it be. Somebody saying lines is like somebody else saying 'em. You have to focus.
I asked Clive Owen how he retained his focus with such a group of great looking women all around him all dressed in bondage gear...
I wish I had his part...
Were there any distractions for you on set?
No, Marv didn't have that many women. Marv just smoked cigarettes and drank. There weren't any distractions.
What's the pleasure in re teaming with Robert after ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO?
It's always good to work with a director that you liked working with before. There aren't that many people that you work with that you go 'oh man I want to work with him again.'' His direction is very simple, he knows exactly what he wants, he is very well prepared. And I wouldn't have any resistance taking direction from him, so I think it's trust. You know, he's very weird. He's a strange bird. His enthusiasm is that he loves going to work, he's a man who is like a kid still. He is a very pure guy too, he doesn't have any bad intentions or like a sinister agenda. He's not like Oliver Stone, you know what I mean - just kidding Oliver (laughs). Let's put it this way, I know what I'd be doing if I went out running around with Oliver at night with Robert it would probably be boring, but Robert is exciting on the set.
You are known for being quite controversial and probably saying things you shouldn't say...
Who me? (Laughs). I'm going to keep my mouth shut. I just don't want to make the same mistakes I made my whole life. I fucked up big time and you know, I've been paying the price for it, paying the piper and everybody else. If I could say it wasn't my fault I blame all these pricks out there, I could live with myself, but the fact was it was my fault and it was my anger and stuff I couldn't get over from a long time ago. I tried to make everybody else pay for it and in the end I dug a big deep dark hole for myself and yeah, I don't need to do all of that again...
So how is Mickey mark 2 different?
Change is very difficult but sometimes change is needed if you are going to survive. Change is hard, that's all I can say, but I sort of look forward to it.
Does it change your performance when you are doing such a highly stylised film?
It helps you but you have to have the team with you. I can't do it without a director who has a big brain like Robert, Robert can't do it unless his technicians know what they are doing, you had to have Frank there. So it's a collaboration. I've done films where I was off in my own world and the director has his thing and it has to be an effort that gels all together right from the start. And he has to know exactly what he wants and I have to be able to deliver it and stay true to myself and my choices at the same time. So there has to be mutual respect for it to gel.
Robert said that you were perfect for this role.
Well, Robert's a good guy I'm so glad he was the director.
But why do you think he was so convinced you were the one to play Marv?
Well, we had worked together before, you know, and we had a very good working relationship. I had a very small role in the first movie and I know he was trying to make more out of it than what was there and I thought that this time at least we would have a chance to really do something together.
What did you think of the character of Marv?
Well, I went out and got the comic book and I read it and I thought 'how the fuck are they going to do this?' I had no idea how they would transcend the material from the comic book to the screen. But you know, Robert is a very innovative kind of director, he very much reminds me of Coppola when we did Rumblefish and with the green screen and shooting it the way they can these days, he was pretty much able to storyboard it from the material in the book to the screen. I saw a little bit when I saw my voice over stuff and I was so impressed, I mean, we only had a green screen there and then he was able to put all of it in the computer and what he did do, was make it came alive, he gave it past.
What was it like the first time you looked in the mirror and saw yourself as Marv?
I've looked in the mirror and felt myself like that before, for years. It was pretty wild, I mean I remember walking out of the trailer and people just staring because you know there's half of him that looks like me and half of him that looks like Marv and so I remember walking out of the trailer and just the way people look, you know Marv is pretty severe looking. And it was just wild to see the way people looked at Marv for the first time. And people say to me 'oh you have this relationship with the girl in the movie and she gets killed and you go ape shit.' and I go 'yeah, well, look at the way Marv looks, this is the first person he thought liked him and somebody took him away...
What did you make of the violence in the piece?
Well, I'm glad you brought that up, that's a good question because there are movies that are violent and then there are movies that are violent with like a sense of humour to them, you know in other words when I've got the guy and I'm dragging him out on the street and I go 'I don't know about you but I'm having a ball..' I mean, I laughed at that. Just because of the way it is a comic book that is come to life, you don't look at it like some Scorsese movie, like Mean Streets or something, because I think Robert is the furthest thing from a violent man that I've ever met, I don't think he understands that real world at all, the way that I do. So his violence comes across like the kind of violence a kid could watch when they are watching a cartoon. I don't think he could make any other kind of movie.
What are you doing next?
I just worked with Tony Scott who I had a great time with, and Keira Knightly, on DOMINO, and I had a great time with Keira. That was great. Keira was a fucking terrific girl to work with. I don't particularly like actresses, but I loved her, she was a real champ, a real professional, and we had a good time - that will be out in August. The movie is centred around Keira's character, she plays a girl who was a fashion model in England, the daughter of Lawrence Harvey - and we met her, the real girl - and she wants to join a bounty hunting team so she joins my team and you know, the story takes place. And Tony Scott was terrific to work with, because if I could work with him for the next ten years I'd be a happy camper.
Question & Answer Text Copyright Buena Vista International
You are known for being quite controversial and probably saying things you shouldn't say...
Who me? (Laughs). I'm going to keep my mouth shut. I just don't want to make the same mistakes I made my whole life. I fucked up big time and you know, I've been paying the price for it, paying the piper and everybody else. If I could say it wasn't my fault I blame all these pricks out there, I could live with myself, but the fact was it was my fault and it was my anger and stuff I couldn't get over from a long time ago. I tried to make everybody else pay for it and in the end I dug a big deep dark hole for myself and yeah, I don't need to do all of that again...
So how is Mickey mark 2 different?
Change is very difficult but sometimes change is needed if you are going to survive. Change is hard, that's all I can say, but I sort of look forward to it.
Does it change your performance when you are doing such a highly stylised film?
It helps you but you have to have the team with you. I can't do it without a director who has a big brain like Robert, Robert can't do it unless his technicians know what they are doing, you had to have Frank there. So it's a collaboration. I've done films where I was off in my own world and the director has his thing and it has to be an effort that gels all together right from the start. And he has to know exactly what he wants and I have to be able to deliver it and stay true to myself and my choices at the same time. So there has to be mutual respect for it to gel.
Robert said that you were perfect for this role.
Well, Robert's a good guy I'm so glad he was the director.
But why do you think he was so convinced you were the one to play Marv?
Well, we had worked together before, you know, and we had a very good working relationship. I had a very small role in the first movie and I know he was trying to make more out of it than what was there and I thought that this time at least we would have a chance to really do something together.
What did you think of the character of Marv?
Well, I went out and got the comic book and I read it and I thought 'how the fuck are they going to do this?' I had no idea how they would transcend the material from the comic book to the screen. But you know, Robert is a very innovative kind of director, he very much reminds me of Coppola when we did Rumblefish and with the green screen and shooting it the way they can these days, he was pretty much able to storyboard it from the material in the book to the screen. I saw a little bit when I saw my voice over stuff and I was so impressed, I mean, we only had a green screen there and then he was able to put all of it in the computer and what he did do, was make it came alive, he gave it past.
What was it like the first time you looked in the mirror and saw yourself as Marv?
I've looked in the mirror and felt myself like that before, for years. It was pretty wild, I mean I remember walking out of the trailer and people just staring because you know there's half of him that looks like me and half of him that looks like Marv and so I remember walking out of the trailer and just the way people look, you know Marv is pretty severe looking. And it was just wild to see the way people looked at Marv for the first time. And people say to me 'oh you have this relationship with the girl in the movie and she gets killed and you go ape shit.' and I go 'yeah, well, look at the way Marv looks, this is the first person he thought liked him and somebody took him away...
What did you make of the violence in the piece?
Well, I'm glad you brought that up, that's a good question because there are movies that are violent and then there are movies that are violent with like a sense of humour to them, you know in other words when I've got the guy and I'm dragging him out on the street and I go 'I don't know about you but I'm having a ball..' I mean, I laughed at that. Just because of the way it is a comic book that is come to life, you don't look at it like some Scorsese movie, like Mean Streets or something, because I think Robert is the furthest thing from a violent man that I've ever met, I don't think he understands that real world at all, the way that I do. So his violence comes across like the kind of violence a kid could watch when they are watching a cartoon. I don't think he could make any other kind of movie.
What are you doing next?
I just worked with Tony Scott who I had a great time with, and Keira Knightly, on DOMINO, and I had a great time with Keira. That was great. Keira was a fucking terrific girl to work with. I don't particularly like actresses, but I loved her, she was a real champ, a real professional, and we had a good time - that will be out in August. The movie is centred around Keira's character, she plays a girl who was a fashion model in England, the daughter of Lawrence Harvey - and we met her, the real girl - and she wants to join a bounty hunting team so she joins my team and you know, the story takes place. And Tony Scott was terrific to work with, because if I could work with him for the next ten years I'd be a happy camper.
Question & Answer Text Copyright Buena Vista International
