Mickey Rourke has made an emotional appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to call off his military campaign in Ukraine.
The Sin City actor broke down in tears on an episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored as he recalled the time he met President Putin.
Rourke explained that it was difficult for him to reconcile the president he met - who he felt was "empathetic" - with the atrocities committed in Ukraine by Russian troops who Putin ordered to invade the nation earlier this year.
Alongside recalling a 2014 trip to Russia - when he claims Putin sang and danced with fellow US actor Sharon Stone - Rourke also gave Morgan a detailed description of when he and the leader visited a children's cancer ward in St Petersberg.
"I looked over at Vladimir, and I could see somebody that was genuinely concerned about where we were and someone who was empathetic and he was there for a sincere reason," Rourke said.
Per Fox News, he went on to say that the idea Putin was responsible for the death and destruction in Ukrain "blows my mind".
"I don’t understand what he wants, and it’s not only combatants that are getting killed, but old people are getting killed, young people are getting killed. Schools are getting targeted, hospitals are getting targeted. All that s*** not right," he continued.
When Morgan asked him what he would say to Putin if he had the chance, Rourke became visibly emotional, tearing up as he delivered a message to the Russian leader.
"You're not going to live forever. Look at Peter the Great, Napoleon, what happened to them trying to get more and more. You've got your power and your money. Just live your life and let these people in Ukraine be independent in the Democratic society they want to live in and just stop today. Not tomorrow. just stop right now," Rourke said.
The Wrestler star's appeal to Putin was just part of his bombshell interview with Morgan. Elsewhere in the wide-ranging chat, Rourke condemned Amber Heard as a "gold-digger" and hit out at Tom Cruise, who he called "irrelevant".
"The guy’s been doing the same effing part for 35 years. I got no respect for that," he said, adding: "I think he’s irrelevant, in my world."
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