In his younger days Mickey would never be with a smile across his face on camera. This isn't due to only playing sad characters, but because he lost several teeth as a young child and learned to smile without opening his mouth. As a result he developed a strange grin. This gave him the look of a romantic character harbouring a tragic secret inside. Audiences fell in love with this image, but they did not know how much pain and trauma lied behind Rourke's grin.