This Thriller Launched a Feud Between Robert De Niro and Mickey Rourke

Not all actors go on to work together throughout their careers, with Robert De Niro and Mickey Rourke being two of many to enter a longstanding feud that reportedly endures to this day. According to Business Insider, the two superstars began their beef after starring together in 1987’s Angel Heart, a supernatural neo-noir thriller directed by Alan Parker that Christopher Nolan cited as a massive influence on Memento for its fractured narrative and penchant for mind-blowing plot twists as they relate to faith and identity. But what were the conditions that ignited such an enduring dispute? And how did Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman somehow play a role in kickstarting it all over again?

Based on the novel Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg, Angel Heart is set in 1955 and stars Mickey Rourke as private investigator Harry Angel, who is hired by Louis Cyphre (De Niro himself) to track down the whereabouts of crooner vocalist and WWII veteran Johnny Favorite. Favorite owes a massive debt to Cyphre, which he’s unable to collect due to his amnesia from a head injury sustained during the war. Cyphre is convinced that foul play is afoot. Angel, hardly the brightest detective in the world, just wants to collect his paycheck. However, in unraveling the threads of this investigation, Angel uncovers a series of bodies that let him know that he’s in for more than he bargained for, with a personal connection to the case that he himself is unsure that he possesses.

Why Did De Niro and Rourke Feud on the Set of ‘Angel Heart’?

Details of the specific events that culminated in their decades-long disagreements with one another are sparse, but according to the sources of Business Insider, the fact that Robert De Niro is a method actor was a strong factor in their relationship’s dissolution. See, Louis Cyphre gets up to some pretty messed up stuff during his encounters with Angel. His nails look sharp enough to slice throats as he monologues about eggs being “a symbol of the soul”. None of it makes sense until the denouement when it’s revealed that Louis Cyphre is actually the devil in disguise. Harry Angel actually is Johnny Favorite, living on borrowed time after trying to cheat the devil upon selling his soul for pop stardom, only to be shipped out to serve in the war instead. Let this be a lesson to all: no matter what your aspirations, a deal with the Devil is always the wrong choice.

Nowadays, it might be easy to assume that Louis Cyphre was in fact Lucifer due to their homophonic similarities (and in general, if you see a character named Cypher, they’re probably bad news), but back in 1987, that was one mind-boggling twist for a detective movie. So much so that it ignited a trend of 90s Hollywood’s obsession with angels and demons. Al Pacino himself starred in a very similar film a decade later in the form of The Devil’s Advocate, with both portrayals actually providing a brilliant contrast to the two titans’ methods of performance. A strict method actor, it’s probably best that the world never uncovers the extent to which De Niro prepared for the role of Satan. However, his commitment to the character’s psychology meant that he insisted that he and Rourke refrain from speaking on set when the cameras aren’t rolling. It’s an understandable request, considering they were playing rivals, but starring in a movie with an acting legend as a relatively fresh-faced newcomer and being told they won’t even speak to you has to hurt.

Rourke Blames De Niro For Losing Out on a Role in ‘The Irishman’

Angel Heart went on to become something of a legend in the genre sphere, becoming one of the first supernatural thrillers to achieve cult status and widespread popularity. Unfortunately, the film’s success didn’t help the relationship between its two stars. In 2020, Rourke made a profanity-laced Instagram post, that has since been removed, calling Robert De Niro a “crybaby” because a friend of his had told him that a few months back, he was quoted as calling him a liar. The post finishes with a threat: “When I see you I swear to God on my grandmother, on my brother, and all my dogs, I’m gonna embarrass you severely 100%”. The Barfly star was referring to his appearance on the Italian TV show “Live – Non e la D’Urso” the year prior, in which he talked about a potential role that he was up for in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.

Rourke also claimed that Martin Scorsese wanted to meet him for a role in his much-anticipated 2019 gangster film, The Irishman. According to Rourke, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Christopher Walken, and Robert De Niro had already been cast, but the reason he missed out on Scorsese’s 200-minute behemoth is that “the casting person told [his] manager that Robert De Niro said he refused to work with [him] in a movie”. He further added that while he used to admire the Taxi Driver star, he no longer has the same esteem for him that he used to.

Although The Feud is Ongoing, ‘Angel Heart’ Is a Beacon in Movie History

According to both Robert De Niro and the producers of The Irishman, Rourke was never considered in the casting process. Nobody reached out to Rourke to try out for the role nor was he thought of despite the actor’s claims. any case, there’s no way of telling which account of events is the most correct. However, Rourke’s profanity-ridden social media rant probably means he would have been right at home squaring up against the veteran criminals portrayed in Scorsese’s crime epic.

As troublesome as the production of Angel Heart was when it comes to the relationship between Rourke and De Niro, it remains a landmark film when it comes to the neo-noir subgenre and Hollywood’s interest in examining religion through a hard-boiled, genre-fueled lens. It manages to tell a complex narrative, seamlessly merge the thrill of detective dramas with the occult, and spotlight the Louisiana Bayou, all at once in a massively underseen setting in Hollywood fiction.

Angel Heart is available to stream for free on Kanopy.

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