In a lengthy interview with Piers Morgan covering everything from Tom Cruise to childhood abuse, actor Mickey Rourke was asked about his experiences with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he called an “empathetic” man, growing emotional as he talked about the current invasion by Putin of Ukraine.
At the tail-end of the chat on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Rourke was asked about a viral picture of him wearing a shirt with Putin’s face on it, which the Wrestler star quickly said was from 2014.
Rourke recalled visiting Russia in 2014 with a slew of other American entertainers, recalling Putin belting out a song and dancing with Sharon Stone. The actor was then invited to join Putin for a trip to St. Petersburg to visit a home for children with incurable cancer.
“I looked over at Vladimir,” Rourke recalled about the visit, “and I could see somebody that was genuinely concerned about where we were and someone who was empathetic and he was there for a sincere reason.”
Asked how he reconciles this depiction of the world leader with the tragedies that have resulted from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Rourke said he wishes a “little bell would ring in [Putin’s] head or his heart and he’d wake up and just stop all this shit.”
“That’s the thing that blows my mind. It’s like two brother countries. I don’t understand
Rourke choked back tears and had to slap on some shades as he recalled seeing images of the atrocities from the war, including a photo of an old man who had lost five family members and now only had his pet cat with him.
“The image that bothered me the most, I saw this old man old in a little grey kitten and the old man survived his house being bombed,” Rourke said. “He lost five family members and the only thing he had, it’s kind of hard for me to talk about it, the only thing he had was this little grey kitty. I looked at that image … and I said how can I have anything to worry about? Losing a movie? Or I’m having a bad day?”
The actor continued, but was cut off by Morgan who had to end the show. The TalkTV and Fox Nation host said he continued the chat with the Pope of Greenwich Village star and the rest of the interview will air on Friday.
Watch above via TalkTV