2. Mickey Rourke
If you wanted a crash course in how to throw away a career, look no further than Mickey Rourke. Here was a guy that was critically acclaimed, loved by the studios, loved by directors, and loved by fans (mainly female). The guy had it all - looks, acting chops and cool. He was commanding million dollar pay days despite his films not making that much money at the box office. Roles in seminal classics like
Body Heat, Diner and
Rumblefish helped propel him into the spotlight - and the spotlight couldn't get enough, culminating in him starring in
Nine 1/2 Weeks with the sultry desire of my teenage years, Kim Basinger. Unfortunately, Rourke (like Kilmer) was never really into the commercial and turned down high profile roles in
48 Hours, Top Gun, Platoon, Beverley Hills Cop, Rain Man, The Silence of the Lambs and
Pulp Fiction in favour of projects he was passionate about.
Angel Heart was a supernatural noir - hence it tanked - and
No Prayer for the Dying tackled even less appealing fare: an IRA terrorist tormented by blowing up a busload of school children. And if that wasn't enough, he then featured in
Barfly - a morose tale of sitting in a bar, drinking copious amounts of whiskey as he refuses to fit into what society expects of people. Then came the strangest turn of anyone's career in this article - he quit acting (tortured artist that he was) and became a professional boxer. But then, in a resurrection of biblical proportions, he storms back with a film-stealing turn in the fan favourite
Sin City. The critically acclaimed
The Wrestler cemented his resurgence and he's since starred in the blockbuster
Iron Man 2 and
The Expendables.