MICKEY ROURKE - MICKEY ROURKE THANKFUL FOR 'LAST CHANCE'

Movie tough guy MICKEY ROURKE is thankful today's young filmmakers are giving him one "last chance" on the big screen - following years of hellraising behaviour threatened to end his career.

The ANGEL HEART actor - who has a well-publicised history of drink and drug abuse - admits he never abided by Hollywood rules, something which caused his career to founder in the nineties.

The 46-year-old says, "You have to understand I'm on my last chance now. Thanks God there's a new generation of directors and studio executives willing to give me that chance, otherwise there'd be no way back.

"But there's no guarantee it's going to work. Because I still have this reputation to live down. I hate that f***ing reputation. But, for now, I'm stuck with it.

"See, I got labelled a rebel. That's how Hollywood packaged me and sold me. Then it got too much and they tossed me in the alley.

"It took me a long time to realise that it was my problem, not Hollywood's. I did it my own way. And lost."