
Michael Rooker
Highest Rated: 100% Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)
Lowest Rated: 6% Super Capers (2009)
Birthday: Apr 06, 1955
Birthplace: Jasper, Alabama, USA
Michael Rooker's harrowing turn in "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" (1986) minted him as an in-demand character actor specializing in intense and often dangerous characters in "Mississippi Burning" (1988) and "JFK" (1991), but he would not achieve true mainstream stardom until the 2010s with exuberant and even sympathetic performances on "The Walking Dead" (AMC, 2010- ) and in the Marvel Films cult favorite "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014). Born in Jasper, Alabama on April 6, 1955, Michael Rooker relocated to Chicago, Illinois with his mother and eight siblings after the divorce of his parents. There, his family struggled to make ends meet and put him and his brothers and sisters through school. Initially, Rooker viewed the Marines as his career of choice, but after landing roles in productions, he shifted his focus to acting. He gained entry to the prestigious Goodman School of Drama, and then made a name in local theater productions. Bit roles in television and film productions lensed in the Windy City soon followed, with his breakthrough, "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," coming in 1986. Directed in stark, realistic tones by Chicago filmmaker John McNaughton, the indie horror-drama followed Rooker's brooding, monstrous loner - based on real-life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas - as he cut a swath of death through the underbelly of a rotting industrial city. His unnerving performance - equally vulnerable and menacing - earned Rooker an Independent Spirit Award nomination and the attention of Hollywood casting agents, who tapped him for a wide variety of projects. Many of his early roles were in the vein of "Henry," like a brutish Klan member in Alan Parker's "Mississippi Burning" and a psychopathic husband in "Sea of Love" (1989). But he soon added more sympathetic roles to his growing c.v., including an assistant district attorney that challenged Kevin Costner's Jim Garrison in Oliver Stone's "JFK" (1991) and Tom Cruise's racing rival turned friend in "Days of Thunder" (1991). He soon settled into a string of character turns that tapped his imposing physicality - Rooker held a black belt in martial arts - in order to provide believable support to such veteran action stars as Sylvester Stallone in "Cliffhanger" (1993), Kurt Russell in "Tombstone" (1993), Chow-Yun Fat in "The Replacement Killers" (1998) and Arnold Schwarzenegger in "The Sixth Day" (2000). But he also remained a consistent presence in dramas, most notably as Jena Malone's supportive uncle in Anjelica Huston's "Bastard Out of Carolina" (Showtime, 1996), and even the occasional comedy like Kevin Smith's "Mallrats" (1996). As he entered into his third decade as an actor in the late '90s and 2000s, Rooker remained extraordinarily busy with both feature and television appearances; though many of these were unremarkable horror or suspense projects for the direct-to-video or -cable market, a few stood out from the pack, including Walter Hill's "Undisputed" (2002) and "Slither" (2006), an amusing horror comedy directed by "Scooby-Doo" (2002) and "Dawn of the Dead" (2004) writer James Gunn. Rooker would go on to become one of Gunn's repertory players, appearing in nearly all of his directorial projects, including the violent comic book spoof "Super" 2010), while also enjoying something of a comeback as repentant redneck Merle Dixon on AMC's hit horror series "The Walking Dead." In 2014, Gunn cast Rooker as the blue-skinned intergalactic bounty hunter Yondu Udonta in "Guardians of the Galaxy," an adaptation of a relatively obscure Marvel Comics title. The film was an unqualified critical and box office success, and led to an even more popular sequel, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017), which provided Rooker with what was arguably his most affecting on-screen moment when he confessed his fatherly love for Chris Pratt's hero, Peter Quill, seconds before his death. The success of both "Guardians" films reignited Rooker's film and television career, and led to his casting in such high-profile projects as the third season of HBO's "True Detective" (2014- ), Blumhouse Pictures' horror revamp of "Fantasy Island" (2020), the ninth entry in the "Fast & Furious" franchise (2020) and "The Suicide Squad" (2021), which marked Gunn's writing and directing debut for DC Films.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Suicide Squad | Savant (Character) | - | 2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Fast & Furious 9 | Buddy (Character) | - | 2021 |
92% | 89% | Love and Monsters | Clyde (Character) | $1M | 2020 |
7% | 48% | Blumhouse's Fantasy Island | Morgan (Character) | $26.4M | 2020 |
70% | 42% | Bolden | Pat McMurphy (Character) | - | 2019 |
85% | 87% | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | Yondu (Character) | $389.8M | 2017 |
54% | 40% | The Belko Experiment | Bud Melks (Character) | $10.2M | 2016 |
91% | 92% | Guardians of the Galaxy | Yondu Udonta (Character) | $333.7M | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Brother's Keeper | Chief Carver (Character) | - | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Lost Episode |
Dount Shop Employee (Character), Director |
- | 2012 |
No Score Yet | 21% | Rogue River | Gas Attendant (Character) | - | 2012 |
No Score Yet | 25% | Mysteria | Captain McCarthy (Character) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet | 53% | Super | Abe (Character) | $322.2K | 2010 |
No Score Yet | 70% | DC Showcase: Jonah Hex | Red Doc (Voice) | - | 2010 |
No Score Yet | 22% | Freeway Killer | Det. St. John (Character) | - | 2010 |
No Score Yet | 64% | Atlantis Down |
Father / |
- | 2010 |
No Score Yet | 9% | Hypothermia | Ray Pelletier (Character) | - | 2010 |
33% | 50% | Louis | Pat McMurphy (Character) | - | 2010 |
52% | 61% | Blood Done Sign My Name | Billy Watkins (Character) | $82.7K | 2010 |
17% | 20% | Cell 213 | Ray Clement (Character) | - | 2010 |
6% | 14% | Super Capers |
The Dark Winged Vesper/ |
$31K | 2009 |
No Score Yet | 34% | The Marine 2 | Church (Character) | - | 2009 |
15% | 44% | Jumper | William Rice (Character) | $80.2M | 2008 |
No Score Yet | 74% | Hope & Redemption: The Lena Baker Story | Sheriff Haney (Character) | - | 2008 |
80% | 16% | Penance | Mann (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet | 56% | Lenexa, 1 Mile | Russ (Character) | - | 2006 |
86% | 63% | Slither | Grant Grant (Character) | $7.8M | 2006 |
No Score Yet | 36% | Chasing Ghosts | Mark Spencer (Character) | - | 2005 |
No Score Yet | 4% | Skeleton Man | Captain Leary (Character) | - | 2004 |
No Score Yet | 14% | The Eliminator | Miles Dawson (Character) | - | 2004 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Saving Jessica Lynch | Colonel Curry (Character) | - | 2003 |
No Score Yet | 33% | The Box | Detective Stafford (Character) | - | 2003 |
No Score Yet | 67% | On Thin Ice | Unknown (Character) | - | 2003 |
48% | 47% | Undisputed | A.J. Mercker (Character) | - | 2002 |
27% | 37% | Replicant | Det. Jake Riley (Character) | - | 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Newsbreak | John McNamara (Character) | - | 2000 |
No Score Yet | 38% | Table One | Rowdy (Character) | - | 2000 |
17% | 60% | Here on Earth | Michael Arnold (Character) | $10.5M | 2000 |
40% | 32% | The 6th Day | Robert Marshall (Character) | $34.5M | 2000 |
29% | 63% | The Bone Collector | Captain Howard Cheney (Character) | $66.5M | 1999 |
No Score Yet | 28% | A Table for One | Michael Rooker (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet | 59% | Renegade Force | Matt Cooper (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet | 26% | Bram Stoker's Shadowbuilder | Father Vassey (Character) | - | 1998 |
50% | 33% | Brown's Requiem |
Fritz Brown (Character), Associate Producer |
$3.1K | 1998 |
36% | 47% | The Replacement Killers | Stan 'Zeedo' Zedkov (Character) | $19M | 1998 |
No Score Yet | 25% | Shadow Builder | Unknown (Character) | - | 1998 |
87% | 83% | Rosewood | Sheriff Walker (Character) | $13.1M | 1997 |
10% | 23% | Keys to Tulsa | Keith Michaels (Character) | $53.2K | 1997 |
48% | 58% | Liar | Kennesaw (Character) | $545.6K | 1997 |
75% | 43% | The Trigger Effect | Gary (Character) | $3.6M | 1996 |
100% | 84% | Bastard Out of Carolina | Uncle Earle (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet | 65% | The Song of Hiawatha | Bertrand (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet | 20% | Back to Back | Bob Malone (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Johnny & Clyde | Frank Tennant (Character) | - | 1995 |
57% | 82% | Mallrats | Mr. Jared Svenning (Character) | $1.8M | 1995 |
No Score Yet | 40% | The Hard Truth | Jonah Mantz (Character) | - | 1994 |
58% | 37% | The Dark Half | Sheriff Alan Pangborn (Character) | $9M | 1993 |
74% | 94% | Tombstone | Sherman McMasters (Character) | $55.9M | 1993 |
69% | 52% | Cliffhanger | Hal Tucker (Character) | $80.5M | 1993 |
No Score Yet | 55% | Afterburn | Casey "Z" Zankowski (Character) | - | 1992 |
84% | 88% | JFK | Bill Broussard (Character) | - | 1991 |
38% | 60% | Days of Thunder | Rowdy Burns (Character) | $80.6M | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gideon Oliver: Sleep Well, Professor Oliver | Detective John Quinn (Character) | - | 1989 |
76% | 66% | Sea of Love | Terry (Character) | $56.6M | 1989 |
86% | 80% | Eight Men Out | Chick Gandil (Character) | $4.3M | 1988 |
84% | 90% | Mississippi Burning | Frank Bailey (Character) | $33.7M | 1988 |
87% | 71% | Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer | Henry (Character) | - | 1986 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | 93% | Ride With Norman Reedus | Guest | 2020-2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs | Unknown (Character) | 2019 |
No Score Yet | 74% | Talking Dead | Guest | 2018 |
No Score Yet | 87% | SEAL Team | Big Chief (Guest Star) | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | q | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Good Morning America | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Entertainment Tonight Canada | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Social | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed | Unknown (Character) | 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | MythBusters | Guest | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Nerdist | Guest | 2013 |
81% | 79% | The Walking Dead |
Merle Dixon (Character), Unknown (Guest Star) |
2010-2013 |
90% | 85% | Archer | Sheriff E.Z. Ponder (Guest Voice) | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Meteor | Unknown (Character) | 2009 |
No Score Yet | 86% | Criminal Minds | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2009 |
52% | No Score Yet | Shark | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Law & Order | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | JAG | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2005 |
No Score Yet | 66% | CSI: Miami | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2003 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Outer Limits | Unknown (Character) | 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Equalizer | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1988 |
QUOTES FROM Michael Rooker CHARACTERS
Becky Otis's Sister says: I love you, Henry.
Henry says: I guess I love you too.
Henry says: Otis, plug it in!
Otis says: (his video camera breaks, while filming outside the car window) - Look what you did! Oh, god! Oh, Jesus! Look at it, it's ruined! Damn, Henry you ought to look where you're driving!
Henry says: Who the hell told you, to stick your head out the window anyway?
Otis says: You could of killed me!
Henry says: Sure...Blame it on me!
Henry says: Sure. Blame it on me!
Otis says: Oh, this fu*king camera! [Otis throws the video camera out the car window]
Henry says: What did you do that for?
Otis says: It wasn't any good anymore.
Henry says: Could have fixed it.
Otis says: Sh*t, the lens was busted right off!
Henry says: Could have fixed it!
Otis says: How do you know? You a camera repair man? ...You should have said something.
Henry says: You threw the fu*ker right out the window!
Henry says: Guns are easy to get...I can make a phone call and get a gun. Anybody can get a gun, Otis.
Henry says: Guns are easy to get. I can make a phone call and get a gun. Anybody can get a gun, Otis.
Otis says: I'd like to kill somebody.
Henry says: Say that again.
Henry says: Let's me and you go for a ride, Otis.
Store Clerk says: How about those Bears?
Henry says: Fu*k the Bears.
Henry says: You telling me you never killed anybody before?
Otis says: I ain't saying that.
Henry says: Then you've killed before, right?
Otis says: Well maybe I didn't have no choice.
Henry says: You didn't have no choice here neither...Did you?
Henry says: You didn't have no choice here neither. Did you?
Otis says: Huh?
Henry says: Did you?!
Otis says: I don't know.
Otis says: Where you going?
Henry says: Nowhere - you wanna come?
Henry says: Nowhere. You wanna come?
Henry says: (Henry grabs Otis after he tries kissing his sister) - Don't do that Otis - she's your sister.
Henry says: (Henry grabs Otis after he tries kissing his sister) - Don't do that Otis. She's your sister.
Henry says: If you shoot someone in the head with a .45 every time you kill somebody, it becomes like your fingerprint, see? But if you strangle one, stab another, and one you cut up, and one you don't, then the police don't know what to do. They think you're four different people. What they really want, what makes their job so much easier, is pattern. What they call a modus operandi. That's Latin. Bet you didn't know any Latin, did you kid?
Otis says: Big fu*king deal.
Henry says: What?
Otis says: Nothing.
Henry says: It's like a trail of sh*t, Otis. It's like the blood droppings from a deer you shot, and all they've got to do is follow those droppings, and pretty soon, they're going to find their deer.
Otis says: Why don't you use a gun?
Henry says: You can use a gun. I'm not saying you can't use a gun. Just don't use the same gun twice.
Henry says: (Otis starts rewinding the Snuff video they just made) - What are you doing?
Otis says: I wanna see it again.
Henry says: (about killing someone) - It's always the same and it's always different.
Henry says: She was a whore. My mama was a whore. But I don't fault her for that. It ain't what she done, but how she done it. Long as I can remember, she'd bring men up to the house. My daddy was there too, but it didn't matter none to her. She'd make me watch.
Becky Otis's Sister says: That's creepy.
Henry says: She'd beat me too; A lot. She'd beat me when I wouldn't watch it. And sometimes she'd beat me, and make me wear a dress, and watch her doing' it. Then they'd laugh at me.
Becky Otis's Sister says: She made you wear a dress?
Henry says: You think I'm lying?
Becky Otis's Sister says: I feel like I know you, like I've known you for a long time. I feel like I've known you forever and ever.
Henry says: Yeah. I killed my mama; one night. It was my 14th birthday. She was drunk, and we had an argument. She hit me with a whiskey bottle. I shot her. I shot her dead.
Becky Otis's Sister says: I thought you said you stabbed her.
Henry says: Oh yeah, that's right...I stabbed her.
Henry says: Oh yeah, that's right. I stabbed her.