Mickey Rourke defends George Bush

Mickey Rourke (pictured), who recently said "Actors should shut up about politics, because they tend to be ill-informed finger-pointers who just cozy up to some flavour-of-the-month liberal, you know?" , does not appear to be following his own advice. The actor, who won the Golden Globe for best actor for his comeback role in The Wrestler, has spoken up in support of out-going president George W Bush.

"President Bush was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I don't know how anyone could have handled this situation," the actor says in an interview with GQ magazine. "I don't give a fuck who's in office, Bush or whoever, there is no simple solution to this problem... I'm not one of those who blames Bush for everything. This shit between Christians and Muslims goes back to the Crusades, doesn't it."

He added: "It's too easy to blame everything on one guy. These are unpredictable, dangerous times, and I don't think that anyone really knows quite what to do."

The actor also told the magazine he was surprised at Britain's approach to fundamentalists and the freedom of speech in the UK. "I was in London recently and I couldn't believe all these hate-talking fanatics you have over here who are allowed to carry on doing their thing even when a bus full of women and children gets blown to pieces."