"If I weren’t Catholic I would have blown my brains out."

Say what you will about Apologetics, the above confession pretty much sums it up — Mickey Rourke thanks God and Catholic faith for 'second chance'. Suicide or Catholicism, both broadly understood, are, after all, the two choices we have.

The story dovetails interestingly with one posted a few days ago on this blog about another actor who "returns often to a discussion of Catholicism, which seems to fascinate him," but "[w]hen asked if he would consider becoming a Catholic, he insists he is 'not a club man'" — Will of Irons – Inside Jeremy Irons West Cork castle.

The Young Fogey's comment on a book that was cinematically desecrated recently — Brideshead regurgitated — comes to mind:

... looking at Waugh’s quotation I think the heart of the book is in Cordelia’s speech to Charles describing how Sebastian has ended up. In spite of his faults he’s the real hero not Bridey even though Bridey is literally right about everything. Bridey’s merely good; Sebastian’s potentially holy. This shows that Catholic orthodoxy is deeper than even many of its supporters think.

A lot of Catholics were scandalized by Rourke's portrayal of Saint Francis of Assisi in Francesco (1989), but I was not among them. I thought the actor brought a certain innocence necessary to play a Holy Fool.