Former child actor Bella Thorne is calling out Hollywood veteran Mickey Rourke for alleged on-set misconduct in the wake of backlash over comments the 72-year-old actor made that some are calling homophobic.
In X posts the 27-year-old Thorne shared on Friday, she claimed that “working with Mickey was one of the all-time worst experiences of my life working as an actress.”
“I had to work with this man – in a scene where I’m on my knees with my hands zip-tied around my back. He’s supposed to take a metal grinder to my knee cap and instead he used it on my genitals thru my jeans. Hitting them over and over again,” Thorne wrote. “I had bruises on my pelvic bone.”
The message was written over a screenshot of an article about former child actor-turned musician JoJo Siwa calling out Rourke’s comments, which she and producers called homophobic, toward Siwa on “Celebrity Big Brother.”
Thorne went on to allege that she suffered from “so many gross stories of things (Rourke) made me go thru” while filming an unnamed movie. The two co-starred in the Chad Faust-directed 2020 thriller, “Girl.”
She claimed the “Sin City” star covered her “completely in dirt” by revving a car engine “to humiliate me in front of the entire crew” and added that she allegedly went into his trailer to “convince him to show up and complete his job, as he shouted crazy demands that he wanted from the producers.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Rourke’s representative for comment.
Thorne had her breakout role on the Disney Channel show “Shake It Up,” in which she starred opposite Zendaya, and went on to act in 2015’s “The DUFF” and “The Babysitter” movies. She also had a successful stint on the adult platform OnlyFans.
Thorne has been outspoken about difficulties she encountered from a young age in Hollywood. In a 2022 podcast appearance, she claimed a director declined to advance her in a casting process when she was 10 years old because he felt she was “flirting with him,” which made him “uncomfortable.”
Also in 2022, Rourke − who earned Golden Globe and BAFTA recognition, as well as an Oscar nomination for 2008’s “The Wrestler” − revealed that his upbringing was “violent” as he experienced abuse as a teenager.
A therapist told Rourke this made him “a scary person to deal with” in adulthood, he added. Rourke also mentioned being in therapy for more than two decades.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bella Thorne says ‘Girl’ co-star Mickey Rourke bruised her pelvic bone
The post Bella Thorne says filming ‘Girl’ movie with Mickey Rourke in 2020 was the ‘worst’ appeared first on USA TODAY.
