*UPDATED* "I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about fourteen years ago or so... the wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce. What happened was, I was not in a really good place in my head and my heart, and I think when the wife left, it all came down and I didn't want to be here. There's always a weak way out. I've always known that. Yeah, I didn't want to be here, but I didn't want to kill myself. I just wanted to push a button and disappear... The dogs were there when no one else was there. I think I hadn't left the house for four or five months, and I was sitting in the closet, sleeping in the closet for some reason, and I was in a bad place, and I just remember I was thinking, 'Oh, man, if I do this.' And then I looked at my dog, Lowjack, and he made a sound, like a little almost human sound. I don't have kids, the dogs became everything to me. The dog was looking at me going, 'Who's going to take care of me?'"
And now he's up for an Oscar. Isn't life mental?
UPDATE: One of Rourke's dogs has just passed away. His "beloved" 18-year-old Chihuahua, Loki.