The Wrestler star, 72, admits he's "made mistakes" in the past and now struggles to book jobs because of his bad boy reputation - confessing he signed up to appear in UK reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother because he can't face filming a "really bad independent movie".
He told The Sun newspaper: "I've made mistakes, many. I have nobody to blame for my ship sinking except myself.
"My career is in the toilet and I'm not getting A-list movies. I'd like to be back where I can work on movies that have integrity.
"There's directors I want to work with and have them not be afraid of me and trust me for who I am today, not for the reputation I have.
"But once it goes past a certain point, I've got a short fuse - there's no turning back. It's on."
Rourke's Hollywood career peaked in the 1980s with leading roles in 9 1/2 Weeks opposite Kim Basinger, Rumble Fish, Angel Heart, Francesco, and Johnny Handsome.
However, he later turned down roles in Rain Man, Platoon, and The Untouchables and briefly pursued a boxing career between 1991 and 1995.
Rourke staged a Hollywood comeback with Sin City in 2005 before starring in The Wrestler in 2008.
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