Is anyone else shaking their head and rolling their eyes right now? Robert De Niro is an actor still loved by many despite his waning career and his inability to refrain from being an avid detractor of the current POTUS, while Rourke is someone that people barely remember as still being in the business. But their feud that’s been ongoing for around three decades is still something that Rourke is apparently ready to renew since it sounds as though De Niro couldn’t leave well enough alone when asked about whether Martin Scorsese thought about asking Rourke to take a part in one of his latest movies, The Irishman. While Rourke said that it did happen, that Scorsese did ask, De Niro’s representatives were quick to state that no such thing had happened. This is one of those cases that a person can’t help but feel could be evened out with an honest and calm discussion between the concerned parties, though it’s not likely to happen since the two men are holding onto a grudge that started thirty years ago when they starred in the movie Angel Heart. Apparently De Niro said something about not having Rourke touch him or talk to him during filming, which feels like a very diva move on De Niro’s part since despite being a top-level actor for so many years, the idea of thinking that you’re in an elevated position and don’t have to respect your costars is prima donna behavior that isn’t really needed or respected by many people.
People are going to have their own opinions of both actors, this much is the unbiased truth, but the reasoning behind De Niro having to disparage Rourke in such a manner was kind of odd to be certain since it wasn’t entirely necessary, nor was it all that polite. He’s been described as a quiet, reserved individual during an interview or when being seen in public, but it would appear there are times when De Niro has no trouble letting his words flow freely, which might get him in trouble at times, but could also make him appear a little more interesting to those around him. To be fair though, Rourke’s reaction wasn’t much better as he might want people to believe that he’s fully ready and willing to publicly humiliate De Niro, but the chances of this happening aren’t too likely since the aging star is apparently surrounded by bodyguards a good deal of the time. This is the part where it’s best to just shake your head, roll your eyes, and move on. The feud that has been kept between the two is somewhat silly to be realistic and the fact that it’s held for so long indicates that both men aren’t really that great at just letting things go.
More than that, De Niro isn’t likely to respond to Rourke’s comments largely because he has his own problems at the moment. He’s currently about to star in another Scorsese movie, but he’s also having to deal with a divorce and the fact that the coronavirus has been hard on his restaurant business. At the risk of being cynical, how many people are ready to take up the violin at this point? Robert De Niro has made a habit of projecting his voice as much as possible over the past several years as a tough guy and a staunch opponent of the current POTUS, to the degree that he actually appears to believe that he’s the tough guy that he’s portrayed on screen for so long. The problem with this is that De Niro is likely only as tough as his security detail, and was Rourke to get his hands on him it might not be a pretty fight, but it would possibly be a scrap that would leave both men bleeding and sore. Plus, De Niro might actually get the worst of it since not only is he a perceived tough guy that talks big, but Mickey Rourke was, at one time, an avid boxer and might still be able to summon up that training in order to do a little damage. Will it ever happen? Not likely, since as mentioned, De Niro simply has too much security around him and isn’t likely to even take Rourke seriously considering that he probably doesn’t think that people can touch him that easily.
All in all, this is a matter that’s easy enough to walk away from since in essence it’s two older actors quibbling about something that happened decades ago, and has somehow been brought into the foreground at this point since they had to keep talking. One would think that they might just shrug their shoulders and go their own way, possibly forgetting the feud, or at least find the fortitude to admit that it’s not that big of a deal.
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