For a veteran actor who has delivered time and time again in such Oscar lauded movies as L.A. Confidential, Memento, and Best Picture winners The Hurt Locker and The King’s Speech, among others, you might not be wrong to believe Guy Pearce has been nominated for Academy Awards himself, but surprisingly the answer is never. This year however that is likely to change with his highly praised Supporting turn in Barry Corbet’s epic drama, The Brutalist for which he is already nominated for Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards.
Nevertheless as Pearce tells me in this week’s edition of my Deadline video series, The Actor’s Side, he does not feel like he has ever been snubbed. “All I want to do is work and get better, ” he says. That is undoubtedly what he has done in a career with many highlights that include an Emmy win (his only award he thinks) for the limited series Mildred Pierce; another role opposite Kate Winslet in the Emmy winning limited series, Mare Of Easttown; playing a drag queen in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert; a lot of iconic roles like Houdini, Scrooge, and Andy Warhol; and his memorable turns for Ridley Scott as Peter Whelan in Prometheus and Alien Covenant. The list goes on and on, and it never ends. His wikipedia page has five credits listed for 2024 alone right now including the Cannes competition film, The Shrouds. That David Cronenberg film was just one of the many he has done for iconic directors like Scott, Christopher Nolan, Curtis Hansen, Kathryn Bigelow, Todd Haynes etc.
He talks about all of these acting experiences with great insight and anecdotes, as well as why he wanted to take on such a complex role in The Brutalist. To watch our conversation and to get the ‘actor’s side’ of things from Guy Pearce just click on the link above.
Join me every Wednesday during Oscar season for another edition of The Actor’s Side.