Mickey Rourke may be down on his luck, but his pride is unwavering.
The actor and former boxer, who was recently evicted from his Los Angeles home amid financial hardships, has received an influx of work opportunities since his troubles made headlines.
However, he feels the gigs are beneath him.
His manager, Kimberly Hines, spoke to TMZ on Thursday, saying her client has been getting a flurry of job offers — including six in just two days — ranging from indie films and photo shoots to live appearances and signings.
But he’s not interested because, according to Hines, the 73-year-old only wants to be paid like an A-lister, demanding no less than $200,000 per day for any job he accepts.
She said Rourke — who received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Randy “The Ram” Robinson in the 2008 movie “The Wrestler” — is also holding out to work with the types of top-tier actors and directors he’s collaborated with in the past.
It seems that Hines may not agree with Rourke’s approach, as she believes that if he focuses on embracing the opportunities in front of him, the money will eventually follow.
On Monday, Rourke was photographed moving out of his home after racking up nearly $60,000 in unpaid rent. He has been staying at a hotel in West Hollywood with his three dogs, but Hines said he’ll be checking out by the end of the week.
She added that she secured Rourke a new apartment in LA but stressed that he’ll need to return to work if he wants to stay there.
The day before Rourke was evicted, Liya-Joelle Jones — who works with Hines — set up a crowdfunding drive for fans to “help Mickey Rourke stay in his home.”
Though the GoFundMe page was allegedly created with Rouke’s “full permission,” he denied any involvement, calling the ordeal “humiliating.”
“If I needed money, I wouldn’t ask for no f–king charity. I’d rather stick a gun up my ass and pull the trigger. … I wouldn’t go to outside sources like that,” he said in an Instagram video, insisting it’s not his “style” to ask “strangers” for financial assistance because he has “too much pride.”
Hines, who is listed as the beneficiary on the GoFundMe, clarified to The Hollywood Reporter that the fundraiser was not a “grift.”
She explained, “I don’t think he understood, and now it’s taken on this media frenzy, and he flipped out. … He should probably take this help because unless he goes back to work, I can only finance him for so long.”
Hines made sure to note that the donations would be “returned” if Rourke rejected the help.
Meanwhile, a source recently told the Daily Mail that Rourke lives “paycheck to paycheck” and would probably be “OK” if he were “more protective of his finances.”
The source elaborated, “He’s rich-poor, if that makes sense. He has outlets to make substantial amounts of money by doing films and reality shows, but he spends it so fast that he is at square one right around the time that he starts making money.”
According to the source, “Mickey has lived the life of a rock star with plenty of drug and alcohol abuse over the years.”
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