• Mickey Rourke has had multiple sugeries.
• His face is now totally different than before.
• AI-generated images depict his appearance if he had not undergone cosmetic surgeries.

Mickey Rourke underwent several operations through the years to reconstruct his face. He has publicly spoken about his multiple surgeries and injuries. However, before the constant change in appearance, the Hollywood veteran actor was one of the good-looking public figures.

Rourke’s Transformation over the Years

A former professional boxer, Rourke was once known as one of film’s most handsome stars. This was before he suffered injuries due to his boxing career and had multiple plastic surgeries that drastically changed his face.

Rourke in 1983

In 1983, a photo of Rourke taken while starring in “Rumble Fish,” alongside Matt Dillon and Nicolas Cage showed that the actor had a youthful look, with short brown hair, a trim beard, and a natural smile with nasolabial folds (smile lines).

Rourke in 1984

A year later, in 1984, he posed for a black and white portrait and smiled without showing his teeth, looking right into the camera. Rourke still had his short hair, and there were no visible changes to his facial features.

Rourke in 1986

Rourke maintained more or less the same hair in 1986, which was a lot darker than the past two years. By the time he starred in “Nine ½ Weeks,” the star had a growing mustache.

The New York native was also photographed with his co-star in the movie, Kim Basinger, showing off his curly brown hair, and in this picture, he looked clean-shaven.

Rourke in 1987

The following year, Rourke had his growing dark hair slightly slicked back and had no mustache this time. He was pictured wearing a dark blazer with a blue shirt underneath and had two rings, one on his ring finger and one on his little finger.

That same year, Rourke’s brown hair had grown a bit longer as it covered each side of his face, and he had it parted in the middle. He had no facial hair and wore a black leather jacket and matching shirt underneath.

Rourke in 1988

However, by 1988, the movie star had slightly trimmed his hair. He also switched his brown colored hair for blonde highlights and had his hair combed all back.

Rourke in 1989

In 1989, Rourke posed wearing a lilac blazer with a black shirt underneath. He had a gold earring on one ear, rocked a wet hairdo, and kept his trimmed look with blonde-colored hair. His blonde highlighted hair was fully displayed in another photograph that same year.

Rourke in 1993

By 1993, Rourke had changed his hair color again and opted for black hair. It was still the same length as the previous years. That same year, he showed off his tattoo on his left arm as he was photographed wearing a black beanie.

Rourke in 1994

He went for another dramatic look in January 1994 by cutting his medium hair and choosing a short, spikey look. Rourke opted for brown hair again and started to grow a beard.

When he attended the Cannes Festival that same year, the “Angel Heart” star seemed to have removed the beard as he rocked a clean look with a black blazer paired with a white shirt. His hair looked golden brown in one snap.

In November of that year, Rourke had his spikey hairstyle again as he posed alongside Tupac, and his hair color was dark brown. He still maintained his clean-shaven look. That same month, he also had a wet hairstyle again, and the locs seemed darker.

Rourke in 1995

By 1995, Rourke’s face was a lot smoother as he had no facial hair, and it seemed he was growing his hair again. His cheeks were more apparent as he smiled for a snapshot with actress Carrie Ottis.

Rourke in 1996

His face was still clean-shaven in 1996 when he appeared in the movie, “Bullet,” playing a drug addict from Brooklyn. His lips were medium size, and his nose was a bit larger.

Rourke kept his clean-shaven face, which was now a bit fuller. He had sunglasses on his forehead as he was photographed amongst a group of people and showed off his three tattoos on his arms.

In another photo, “The Wrestler” star looked entirely different with sideburns, short golden hair, and a growing white beard. He had worn an eyebrow piercing and gold earring.

Rourke in 1998

Two years later, in 1998, Rourke had a new look again. While smiling for a photo, his face looked pulled back as his upper lip looked thinner than usual.

In an interview that year, he candidly talked about his Hollywood career and admitted it turned out in a way he never suspected it would. Rourke explained:

“I had my career going about 10 years ago in the right direction. I started not liking the business and not liking myself. I was slowly self-destructing at a pretty fast rate. I felt like I didn’t belong doing what I was doing, meaning acting. I felt some sort of guilt about being successful at it.”

Rourke once slammed Marvel after appearing in “Iron Man” with Robert Downey Jr. He played Ivan Vanko and said he wanted to give his character more layers other than being a bad guy. Still, the franchise did not allow him to do that, and he was disappointed.

Rourke in 2000

Apart from his showbiz woes, his physical appearance kept changing. By 2000, Rourke’s face seemed fuller again as he was pictured wearing glasses and a black-striped blazer. He had grown his hair again; this time, it had blonde highlights and some white hair strands.

Rourke in 2001

Yet he went completely blonde the following year in 2001 as his hair was a bit longer and he had a mustache. Rourke was pictured wearing shades again.

Rourke in 2002

Rourke often wore glasses in the 2000s and was photographed rocking them again in March 2002. He had changed his hair from blonde to brown. Moreover, his nose was a bit wider than usual.

That same month, the public figure’s nose appeared sharper than days before. A month later, Rourke’s lower lips seemed a bit bigger than previously, and as he posed for another photo the next month, he had reddish patches on his face.

Rourke in 2003

In January 2003, Hollywood’s leading man still had medium-sized brown hair and had already started developing wrinkles around his face. In March that year, he was photographed wearing darker shades as his nose seemed narrower while sporting dark hair.

Rourke in 2005

Rourke’s face appeared slightly swollen in April 2005 while attending an event. The following month, he was pictured wearing sunglasses again while his forehead lines were visible.

Rourke in 2008

By February 2008, the Golden Globe Award winner looked almost unrecognizable. He had dyed his hair blonde, had sideburns, and had a clean-shaven face. Notably, his under-eyes looked swollen.

Yet later that same year, in October, Rourke’s under-eyes looked normal, and he had a mustache. He had changed his hair from full blonde to brown-colored locs with blonde highlights.

Rourke in 2009

He maintained the same hairdo and still had the mustache the following year, in January 2009. In February, he posed wearing glasses while attending an award show. Only this time, he changed his medium-sized hair color to brown and kept the mustache.

In an interview that same month, Rourke openly discussed his ever-changing appearance. There had been talks about the constant change on his face, and he was asked whether it was the result of boxing or a botched cosmetic surgery. Rourke admitted:

“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.”

Rourke, who had been a successful amateur boxer in his early years and returned to the ring at age 39 in 1991, endured severe injuries on his face and underwent several procedures to have them fixed. He explained:

“I had my nose broken twice. I had five operations on my nose and one on a smashed cheekbone. I had to have cartilage taken from my ear to rebuild my nose and a couple of operations to scrape out the cartilage because the scar tissue wasn’t healing properly.”

Rourke in 2010

By 2010, Rourke’s face had gone through a complete transformation. It became apparent that his facial appearance was no longer the same as before, and he continued to wear sunglasses.

Rourke in 2014

After his acting career went downhill because of his self-destructive behavior in the early 1990s, Rourke returned to boxing in 2014 at 62 following a 20-year hiatus. He reportedly finished his three-year pro boxing career with six wins and two draws.

However, his ring fights left him with detrimental facial injuries that led him to resort to plastic surgery as a result. That same year, he continued wearing glasses while out in public.

When he appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in August 2014, the under of Rourke’s eyes seemed swollen again, and his nose looked slightly oversized. It was now beginning to protrude.

Rourke in 2015

In 2015, the “Immortals” star was spotted with a bandage on his nose during an outing in Los Angeles. Again, he was wearing sunglasses as he appeared in good spirits.

Rourke in 2016

In February 2016, he attended a movie premiere wearing blue-shaded glasses and showed off his gold teeth while posing on the red carpet. There appeared to be a bump on his nose.

In August of that year, Rourke’s right eye seemed slightly closed off than his left. The bump on the nose was still apparent when he attended another event, rocking a two-colored hairdo.

Three months later, in November, Rourke was spotted in public with the under of his eyes swollen. He still had the hairdo and placed his sunglasses on his head. The nose bump was still there in December of that year.

Rourke in 2017

Rourke revealed on his Instagram page in October 2017 that he underwent another facial procedure. He shared a picture from the hospital posing with a doctor and captioned it:

“Moments after nose surgery with Dr. Dhir. Now I am ‘pretty again’ :(lol) …one more to go I don’t know what day it is don’t even realize [the] operation is over.”

The following month, the BAFTA Award winner was publicly seen with scars on his nose following the surgery and was sporting another grey hairdo.

Rourke in 2019

By February 2019, Rourke’s nose looked differently structured than before. Also, his right eye appeared slightly more closed off than the other because of the under of his eyes. In August of that year, his left eye seemed swollen.

Rourke in 2022

However, by June 2022, both Rourke’s eyes looked much better than the previous year, but he still had a bump on his nose and was rocking a hat.

Rourke in 2023

In January 2023, Rourke posted a picture of himself seated with his face down, showing his now-larger wider nose, and wrote, “Sleeping beauty.”

In December of that year, he posted a video wishing his followers a Happy New Year, wearing a black tank top and showing off his tattoos on both arms. Once again, his face seemed swollen, and his eyes looked slightly smaller.

Still, in December 2023, the “Man of Fire” star shared a photo of himself looking down while cuddled up with his three rescue dogs: Egor, Ivan, and Lucky. In the snap, Rourke’s entire face appeared swollen, and it was evident he had work done.

AI-Generated Images of Rourke

Mickey Rourke is now 71 years old and has had many facial surgeries. There are AI-generated images that predict what he would have looked like had he not undergone so many facial procedures.

His face barely has wrinkles due to plastic surgery, and it appears pulled back. However, AI images depict that Rourke would have wrinkles all over his face by now. He would have forehead lines, crow’s lines, a beard with sideburns, blue eyes, white hair, and a white beard.

Even though his facial appearance changed over the years, the Academy Award nominee, who has won two Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, one BAFTA Award, one Golden Globe, and more, has maintained his acting career even after falling out with Hollywood once.