Troubled star Mickey Rourke resurfaces in first photos since being booted from LA home over unpaid rent

Mickey Rourke kept things comfortable and casual as he was spotted returning to Los Angeles this weekend after a work-related trip.

The Oscar-nominated actor, 73, sported an ash grey sweatsuit with sunglasses, a necklace and white Adidas athletic shoes on the sunny spring day in Southern California. 

The Wrestler actor stayed hydrated with a large bottle of water on the daytime outing, in which he was flanked by a pal donning a tie-dyed hoodie while assisting him with his luggage.

The actor was making his way back from Utah, where he was on set for the upcoming film Sol Hershowitz’s Guide to Extraterrestrial Life, in which he plays a conspiracy theorist, according to TMZ. 

Rourke's living situation has made headlines over the past few months, beginning late last year when his one-time landlord, Eric T. Goldie, initiated legal proceedings to evict the actor from a home he'd been renting.

Goldie said in a December 18 court filing that the Hollywood veteran had rented the home for the majority of last year, racking up rental fees of more than $59,100 he hadn't made good on. 

Goldie earlier this month received a default judgment in the eviction filing after Rourke failed to respond to the eviction notice under the designated time frame under California law.

The court granted Goldie immediate possession of the property and nixed the remaining lease agreement, effectively keeping Rourke out of the home moving forward.

Rourke's team earlier this month provided the Daily Mail with a statement on the actor's behalf, explaining his side of the rental dispute. 

'The reason I stopped paying rent was because the living conditions in the house had become unacceptable,' Rourke's team told the Daily Mail in a statement. 'For months there were serious problems that repeatedly went unaddressed despite my efforts to have them fixed.'

Rourke said that 'there were ongoing rodent issues that required multiple visits but were never fully resolved, and the bathroom and plumbing frequently did not work.

'I made repeated requests for repairs, but the problems continued and basic maintenance was never properly handled.'

Rourke said that 'withholding rent was not a decision [he] made lightly,' but he felt it was the only move he had after repeatedly being ignored over critical issues involving the home.

'I simply could not continue paying for a house that was in such poor condition after so many attempts to have these issues corrected,' Rourke told the Daily Mail.

Despite the recent hardships in his living situation, the Angel Heart actor said he's grateful for many things, including the opportunity to get back in front of the camera.

'They let me slowly go back to work - I'm behaving myself, I was on time - there was no hotel room broken up,' Rourke said. 'I did everything wrong for 20 years, and then... took me 23 years of therapy.'

Rourke - who turned down six-figures in GoFundMe donations from fans after news of his living situation went public - said he was ready to take accountability for past bad decisions he made, and the repercussions he suffered as a result. 

'The only person I got to blame for what happened to me,' Rourke said, 'was me. 

'I got it a lot better off than a lot of people - I got a roof over my head - I got some food in the icebox; my dogs aren't going hungry.'