“He talks all kind of shit”: Robert De Niro and the one-sided feud that dragged on for so long it became embarrassing
Unless he’s talking about Donald Trump, which has been his main topic of conversation for years, Robert De Niro generally keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t indulge in petty squabbles or name-calling.
That veneer of professionalism doesn’t always mean he leaves a good impression on his colleagues or co-stars, though, with Jeremy Irons admitting his The Mission colleague’s adherence to the method, which meant they didn’t speak to each other for two months on set, was a bit of a pain in the arse.
The shoe was placed on the other foot when he was cast in Todd Phillips’ Joker, with Joaquin Phoenix’s dedication to what was ultimately an Academy Award-winning performance as Arthur Fleck getting under De Niro’s skin, with his frustrations coming close to reaching boiling point before the director stepped in.
Apart from Trump, who technically counts since he was in The Little Rascals, Zoolander, and Home Alone 2, there aren’t too many people who’ve appeared in Hollywood movies who hate his guts, with The Sopranos veteran Steve Schirripa’s intense hatred for the two-time Oscar winner a notable exception.
Then, of course, there’s Mickey Rourke. The two played the leads in Alan Parker’s 1987 supernatural noir, Angel Heart, and since then, he hasn’t been able to shut up about De Niro. Heading into the production, the rising star was understandably excited at being able to spar with one of his idols and inspirations.
However, by the time the cameras had stopped rolling, his fanboy days were well and truly over. Rourke claims he schooled De Niro in the art of acting, and because of that, the Raging Bull headliner developed a grudge. There might be an element of truth to that, but the feud was one-sided from that point on.
For the next two decades, Rourke would sling shit in De Niro’s direction whenever the opportunity presented itself, calling him a “big fucking crybaby,” accusing him of telling the press that “Mickey Rourke’s a liar and he talks all kind of shit,” which he didn’t, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, and that he was a “punk-ass” who deserved to be embarrassed in front of the world.
The actor-turned-boxer-turned-actor-again would also claim that, thanks to the lingering bad blood from Angel Heart, De Niro had actively blocked him from landing a part in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, which was the only time he gave his nemesis the time of day, if only to share a statement through his reps informing the world that “Mickey Rourke was never asked to be in The Irishman nor was he ever even thought of, discussed or considered to be in the movie.”
Rourke is no stranger to bad-mouthing people vastly more successful than he is, was, or has ever been, but throwing so many insults in De Niro’s direction and having him completely ignore every single one of them, apart from when he dropped a truth bomb, made the 20-year beef embarrassing more than anything else.
