So Mickey Rourke is on a bit of a comeback streak, with his award-winning turn in The Wrestler and his upcoming appearance as the villain Whiplash in Iron Man 2. Hooray for him. He's hot again. But are you ready to see him play Genghis Khan? Yeah. Genghis friggin' Khan.
According to this interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Mickey Rourke is currently lined up to play the title role in the writer/director John Milius' movie epic about history's notorious Mongol conqueror: Mickey Rourke as Genghis Khan?. Excuse, but has anyone thought about what a bad idea this is?
"John wrote as a piece told from the son and grandson's point of view, how they saw this mythic figure from their family. You see him in flashbacks, back when he was in his mid-40s. And back then, being in your mid-40s was being REALLY old."He goes on about how the mighty Khan, like Rourke himself, was apparently a friend to the dogs. So that's cool. That's an interesting Genghis Khan fact I didn't know. But you know what I do know about Genghis Khan? He was Asian. And Mickey Rourke is most definitely not.
At 57, is Rourke ready to saddle up as the legendary conqueror?
"I rode quite a bit, back in the day. The horseback riding won't be too much of a problem. I probably ride a horse better than I drive a car. There's going to be some archery from horseback called for that I have to do, so that'll be interesting, physically. I've got some very good stunt people that I work with almost exclusively. Garrett Warren and Mark Colburn will be with me.
"It'll be a fascinating experience, maybe shooting in parts of India, they tell me, and China. I've never worked in either of those countries, so that'll be new.
"Historically, if you read about the guy, he was a mystery. There's a lot of myths surrounding him, but also some true stories. Milius went through that in prepping this, so he'll be a fascinating character to play."
Wait, they can't really do that, can they? I'd be laughing if I didn't know that Hollywood is indeed capable of doing something so ridiculous. See John Wayne(!) as Temujin in the fantastically bad 1956 Genghis Khan biopic The Conqueror.
I can think of twenty other actors who could play a better Genghis that Mickey Rourke -- and they are all of Asian descent. But I can already see Mickey Rourke's ugly mug on the theatrical poster now. Shaking my damn head.
