The Orlando Sentinel talked to Iron Man 2 star Mickey Rourke, who revealed he will play Genghis Khan in a film written and to be directed by John Milius.
First up, Rourke mentioned that St. Vincent, with director Walter Hill, is “not gonna happen.” What is, however, is the Tony Scott remake of the German crime film Potsdamer Platz.
“Yeah, we’re doing that. Talking to Tony about a ‘Hell’s Angels’ movie, too,” Rourke said. “I’ve been working on a motorcycle gangs script for 20 years, so I hope that happens.”
About Genghis Khan, Rourke said that he “read [Milius’] script and you know, the man is known for his tough writing. He wrote ‘Conan’ and ‘Dirty Harry’ and ‘Apocalypse Now,’ and it’ll be interesting to see how he works behind the camera. I’m playing Genghis.”
He added that it’s a project “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.”
Rourke was told that filming will take place in parts of India and China and that he’ll have to do horseback riding for the character. “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.”
The actor explained his interest in the film. “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.”
