What happened to Mickey Rourke? Face surgery before and after boxing accident explained amid recent Newsmax appearance

American actor Mickey Rourke recently appeared on Newsmax to talk about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. During the interview, the Angel Heart star praised the fighting spirit of Ukrainians amid the challenging times in their country. He said,

“Ukraine is fighting harder than anyone expected them to fight… I think everybody really thought, it would be over in 2-5 days. But whatever, happened. But now Ukrainians are putting up such a hard fight, they just not going to give up.”

The actor also noted that he believes in the fighting spirit of Ukrainians and shared a message about having faith in hard times. He expressed,

“I don't care if there is two Ukrainians left, they are going to fight till they are dead. I wish they can battle a lot. The only thing that is going to stop this madness when it's the right time it will be stopped from above, not from down here.”

The clip of the interview was widely circulated on social media, but instead of Mickey Rourke’s remarks on the Russia-Ukraine crisis, several users noted that he looked nearly unrecognizable in the video.

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A look into Mickey Rourke’s boxing injuries and facial surgeries

Mickey Rourke underwent several reconstructive surgeries due to his boxing injuries (Image via Panayotis Tzamaros/Getty Images)

Mickey Rourke was once known as one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood. He made his feature film debut with a minor role in Steven Spielberg’s 1941 and garnered significant attention with 1981’s Body Heat.

The 69-year-old further rose to fame with his appearances in films like Diner, Rumble Fish, 9½ Weeks, Barfly, Angel Heart, Year of the Dragon, Homeboy, and Wild Orchid, among others.

However, in the early 1990s, the actor decided to take up professional boxing, leaving behind a considerably successful acting career. Rourke reportedly started the sport at the age of 12 and had an amateur boxing career before he entered the entertainment industry.

Rourke won 27 matches including 12 straight knockouts and 3 defeats between 1964 and 1973. His return to the ring as a professional boxer in 1990s also proved to be equally successful. He remained undefeated in eight fights and had six wins, including four knockouts and two draws.

Unfortunately, his boxing career also came with a string of severe facial injuries. Rourke reportedly faced a broken nose twice and suffered toe and rib injuries. He also sustained a split tongue, a compressed cheekbone, and even short-term memory loss for some time.

Rourke also had to undergo several reconstructive surgeries to treat his boxing injuries. However, many of those surgeries failed to bring the actor the desired result and prompted him to go under the knife, consistently.

Rourke’s facial features were nearly unrecognizable as compared to his initial appearance in the industry. The Wrestler star finally opened up about his injuries while speaking to The Daily Mail during a 2009 interview. At the time, he confirmed,

“I had my nose broken twice. I had five operations on my nose and one on a smashed cheekbone.”

He also opened up about his reconstructive surgery and shared how it affected his appearance. He said,

“Most of it was to mend the mess of my face because of the boxing, but I went to the wrong guy to put my face back together.”

Mickey Rourke’s looks gained renewed interest after his recent interview with Newsmax. Following the interview, several people took to Twitter to share their curiosity about his changing appearance.

Mickey Rourke returned to acting following his retirement from boxing and had roles in films like The Rainmaker, Buffalo ’66, Get Carter, Sin City, Iron Man 2, Immortals and The Expendables, among many others.

In 2020, he participated in the fourth season of The Masked Singer, but left the show shortly after performing Ben E King’s Stand By Me as the “Gremlin.”