'The Wrestler' star claims Cruise has been "playing the same character for 35 years"

Mickey Rourke has bizarrely hit out at Tom Cruise, calling his fellow 80's idol "irrelevant" in an interview.

Speaking on Piers Morgan's talk show, Rourke launched an attack on Cruise, who holds the distinction for starring in the biggest film of 2022, 'Top Gun: Maverick'.

Rourke, Oscar nominated for 'The Wrestler' in 2009, said the success of 'Top Gun: Maverick' doesn't mean "shit" to him.

"Tom Cruise has been doing the same part for 35 years. I got no respect for that," he claimed.

"I don’t care about money or power. When I watch Al Pacino or Christopher Walken working, or De Niro’s early work and Richard Harris and Ray Winstone, that’s the kind of actor I want to be like," dubbing them "a lot of guys that tried to stretch as actors.”

When Rourke was asked if Cruise is a good actor, he replied "I think he's irrelevant."

Rourke was a box office draw in the 1980s thanks to films like 'Angel Heart' and '9 1/2 Weeks', but the actor quickly gained a reputation for being stand off-ish and difficult to work with.

The actor had a career revival in the mid-2000's with roles in 'Man On Fire' and 'Sin City', and very nearly won an Oscar in 2009.

Acclaimed indie director Darren Aronofsky cast him in the lead role in his drama 'The Wrestler', which won Rourke countless awards for his acting, losing the Oscar to Sean Penn for his role in 'Milk'.

Off the back of 'The Wrestler', Rourke starred in 2010 superhero flick 'Iron Man 2', playing the role of Whiplash.

Rourke quickly burned his bridges with Marvel, and implied that director Jon Favreau didn't "call the shots" on the film, saying "“At the end of the day you’ve got some nerd with a pocketful of money calling the shots, you know, Favreau didn’t call the shots. I wish he would have.”

Rourke recently said he was "blacklisted by Hollywood" saying that young directors were not interested in Rourke.

'The young guys are cool. They don't care about what they hear. They judge me by my acting ability, not my old reputation," he said back in March.