Are We Havin’ Fun Yet?: Top 10 Michael Rooker Roles

As entertaining as Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby might be, the 1990 film Days of Thunder is perhaps the ultimate NASCAR movie. Following his time in the skies in Top Gun, Tom Cruise takes to the racetrack for Days of Thunder as aspiring championship racer Cole Trickle. In the film, Michael Rooker stars opposite Cruise as his racing rival: the awesomely-named Rowdy Burns.

“It was one of the most fun and exhilarating movies I’ve ever been in,” Rooker says of the film in a 2019 interview with NBC Sports. Viewers found it just as fun to watch as well, thanks in part to the portrayal of Rooker as Rowdy Burns and his compelling rivalry with Cole Trickle.

Oliver Stone’s JFK delves into the assassination of murdered president John F. Kennedy and the alleged conspiracy surrounding the killing, serving as one of the most interesting films made on the subject. Michael Rooker plays the part of assistant District Attorney Bill Broussard, joining an already impressive ensemble cast that included other big names like Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Sissy Spacek, John Candy, Gary Oldman, and other major players. Even surrounded by such an impressive cast of characters, Rooker shines through as one of the highlights of the film.

Perhaps the most dastardly of every character ever played by Rooker, Mississippi Burning‘s Frank Bailey was truly despicable. A Klansman involved with the murders of multiple civil rights activists, a particularly memorable scene from the film sees Frank brutally beating a news cameraman. Anyone who sees the film will absolutely hate this guy, whose horrible qualities were very believable thanks to the fantastic portrayal of the character by Rooker.

Bonus points for the film also featuring Brad Dourif. You can watch Mississippi Burning right now on Amazon Prime.

In John Sayles’ 1988 drama Eight Men Out, Rooker plays real-life baseball legend Chick Gandil. Unhappy with how little the team is making despite their establishment as one of the best baseball teams in the league, Chick manages to convince several of his White Sox teammates to throw the World Series, arguing they’d make much more money from losing than they would from winning. It’s an entertaining film with a great performance from Rooker as one of the players to spearhead the fixing of the games.

Want to watch the film for free? Head on over to Tubi!

Given that Rooker plays a lot of bad guys, it’s only natural for there to be a quintessential “jerk father” role in his body of work. He certainly plays one of those in the Kevin Smith comedy Mallrats, as he does everything he can to prevent his daughter from hooking up with the film’s protagonist. He also has a very memorable (albeit disgusting) scene involving Jason Lee and chocolate-covered pretzels that anyone who’s seen the flick will always remember.

Presently, Kevin Smith is penning the screenplay for the upcoming sequel, Twilight of the Mallrats. As Smith is known to often bring back many characters from previous movies for his sequels, let’s hope he finds a way to get Rooker back on board to appear once again as Jared Svenning. And, for his sake, let’s also hope he has learned not to accept any more chocolate-covered pretzels.

James Gunn has a penchant for inserting Michael Rooker into his movies, and you really can’t argue with his logic. As should be obvious by this point, Rooker’s presence always adds a lot to any film, and Gunn caught on to that fact pretty early on into his filmmaking career. This meant casting Rooker into a prominent role in Gunn’s very first film as a director: the cult classic horror flick Slither.

In the movie, an alien parasite begins to infect the residents of a small town by assimilating their bodies, turning them physically grotesque and very violent. Rooker’s character, the wealthy Grant Grant, falls victim to the parasite in the opening moments of the movie, eventually growing into a murderous abomination. It’s a really freaky role, and it’s definitely difficult to imagine anyone other than Rooker in the part.

The Sylvester Stallone movie Cliffhanger features the action hero taking out bad guys high atop the Rocky Mountains. This time, Rooker is not one of the villains, playing Stallone’s best friend Hal Tucker. Though Hal blame’s Stallone’s character for failing to save his girlfriend at the start of the film, it’s still Hal who saves the day by shooting down a helicopter gunning for them. As fantastic as Rooker always is playing antagonists, it’s nice as a fan to see him on the other side taking on the bad guys with the star of Rocky and Rambo.

Of course, when James Gunn moved on from horror movies to making blockbuster superhero flicks, he didn’t leave Rooker behind. When he directed the original Guardians of the Galaxy film, Gunn expertly cast Rooker as Yondu, the blue-hued anti-hero straight from Marvel Comics. Reprising the role in the sequel, Rooker plays a very important part in the story as Yondu, who comes to sacrifice himself for Peter Quill – who he thinks of as his own son.

Given the character’s demise, we probably won’t be seeing him in Gunn’s planned third movie, though Rooker will be reprising the role in Marvel’s upcoming What If… series for Disney+. That’s certainly awesome news for those of us wanting more of Rooker as Yondu, as the actor is highly entertaining in the role.

Oddly enough, Rooker’s very first film role remains one of his most popular performances of all time. In 1986, Michael Rooker played a serial killer in the gritty horror classic Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Loosely based on real-life murderer Henry Lee Lucas, Henry is considered a cult classic and is highly-regarded among fans of the genre. Originally X-Rated, the controversial film is known for its disturbing violence, made all the more horrific by the believable performance of Rooker. It’s certainly a movie that sticks with viewers long after watching it, and many may only be able to handle a single viewing.

Wanna see it? Subscribers can watch the film right now on Shudder.

Perhaps the greatest sin ever committed by The Walking Dead producers was killing off Merle Dixon in the show’s third season. Although we’re about seven seasons past Merle’s demise, the character remains among the most memorable from the entire show’s history. Fans of the early seasons of the series will definitely always remember Merle as the first human to give Rick Grimes trouble in the zombie apocalypse, and they’ll never forget the knife-hand he fashioned for himself once partnering up with the Governor in Woodbury.

Like his brother Daryl, Merle was created specifically for the TV series and wasn’t present in the original Walking Dead comics. And, also like Daryl, this blank slate opened the door for Rooker to make the character his own, and Rooker’s presence has been sorely missed ever since Merle’s death. Beginning the series as a selfishly terrible person and ending his run as a fan favorite who sacrifices himself for others, Merle’s character arc is also perhaps the most satisfying of every character on the series. Still, with so much wasted potential, keeping Merle around a little while longer would have added a lot to those following seasons.

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