Guy Pearce
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Guy Pearce
Biography
With classic, square-jawed good looks, Australian actor Guy Pearce brings to mind the leading men of Hollywood's Golden Age; however, the actor is a thoroughly modern one, using his talents to play characters ranging from flamboyant drag queens to straight-arrow Los Angeles policemen.Pearce was born October 5, 1967, in Cambridgeshire, England. His father, who was a member of the Royal Air Force, moved his family to Australia when Pearce was three. Following the elder Pearce's tragic death in a plane crash, Pearce's mother decided to keep her family in Australia when young Pearce was eight, and it was there that he grew up. Interested in acting from a young age, he wrote to various members of the Australian television industry requesting a screen test when he was 17. His efforts proved worthwhile, as he was invited to audition for a new soap called Neighbours. Pearce won a significant part on the show and was part of it from 1986 to 1990. Following his stint on Neighbours, Pearce found other work in television and made his screen debut in the 1992 film Hunting. He acted in a few more small films and in My Forgotten Man, a 1993 TV biopic of Errol Flynn, before coming to the attention of film audiences everywhere in the 1994 sleeper hit The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. As the flamboyant and often infuriating Adam/Felicia, Pearce gave a performance that was both over the top and immensely satisfying. The role gave him the international exposure he had previously lacked and led to his casting in Curtis Hanson's 1997 adaptation of James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential. The film was an all-around success and drew raves for Pearce and his co-stars, who included Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance) and fellow Australian Russell Crowe.
After the success of L.A. Confidential, Pearce went on to make the independent A Slipping Down Life, which premiered at Sundance in 1999. He followed that with the highly original but fatally unmarketable Ravenous (1999), Antonia Bird's tale of chaos and cannibalism which cast Pearce alongside the likes of David Arquette and Robert Carlyle. Though his role in the following year's military drama Rules of Engagement would offer a commendable performance by the rising star, it was another film that same year that would cement his status as one of the most challenging and unpredictable performers of his generation. Cast as a vengeance seeking, tattoo-covered widower whose inability to form new memories hinders his frantic search for his wife's killer, Pearce's unforgettable performance in the backwards-structured thriller Memento drove what would ultimately become one of the biggest sleepers in box office history. Pearce was now officially hot property on the Hollywood scene, and producers wasted no time in booking him for as many upcoming blockbusters as they could. A memorable performance as the villain in The Count of Monte Cristo found Pearce traveling back in time for his next film, and his subsequent role in The Time Machine would find him blasting so far into the future that mankind had reverted to the days of prehistoric times. A trip to the land down under found Pearce next appearing as a hapless bank robber in the critically panned crime effort The Hard Word, and the popular actor would remain in Australia for the elliptical drama Till Human Voices Wake Us (2002). In 2004, Pearce played a lion hunter in the family-oriented epic Two Brothers. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
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Guy Pearce
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Guy Pearce
This article is about the Australian actor. For the Australian political author, see Guy Pearse.
| Guy Pearce | |
|---|---|
 Pearce in January 2011 |
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| Born | Guy Edward Pearce 5 October 1967 Ely, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Occupation | Actor, musician |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Spouse | Kate Mestitz (1997–present) |
Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an English-born Australian[1] actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A. Confidential, a drag queen in the The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Mike Young in the Australian television series Neighbours and King Edward VIII ("David") in The King's Speech. Pearce has won an Emmy Award, and received nominations for Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and Saturn Awards.
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Early life
Pearce was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire. His mother, Anne Cocking (née Pickering), was a County Durham-born schoolteacher specialising in needlework and home economics, and his father, Stuart Pearce, was a New Zealand-born air force test pilot who died when Pearce was nine.[2][3][4] When he was three years old, Pearce moved to Geelong, Australia, where his mother ran a deer farm. He attended the Geelong College, a local private school, and was a member of the GSODA Junior Players. From the age of 15 to 22, he was a competitive amateur bodybuilder, leading to the title of Junior Mr. Victoria. He also partook in fencing. He lived in Box Hill North, Victoria in the late 1980s while working on the Australian drama series Neighbours.
Career
Pearce starred in several theatre productions when he was young and at 17 years of age auditioned for his first film role "Life and Study at University" a promotion for University study, produced and directed by Peter Lane of Deakin University. The lead part called for a 23 year old University student and at first he was turned down due to his young age, but Pearce's Mother insisted that her son could play the part. After repeated assurances that he could handle the role, he was auditioned and accepted. His maturity as an actor already present as he had mastered the technique of 'talking to the camera'. Pearce then graduated to television when he was cast in the Australian soap opera Neighbours in 1985, playing the role of Mike Young for several years. Pearce also found roles in other television series such as Home and Away (1988) and Snowy River: The McGregor Saga (1993).
The director/producer/writer Frank Howson cast Pearce in his first three films, and paid for him to go to the Cannes Film Festival in 1991 for the premiere of the Howson-directed Hunting. The accompanying Howson-funded publicity campaign brought Pearce to the attention of the international film industry. He made his first major film breakthrough shortly after, with his role as a drag queen in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in 1994. Since then, he has appeared in several U.S. productions including L.A. Confidential, Ravenous, Rules of Engagement, Memento, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Time Machine. Pearce portrayed pop artist Andy Warhol in Factory Girl and Harry Houdini in Death Defying Acts. He also appeared in The Road and in Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler.[5]
Pearce continues to perform in Australian theatre productions as well as Australian films, such as The Hard Word (2002) and the critically lauded The Proposition (2005). In January 2009, Pearce returned to the stage after a seven year absence.[6] He performed in the Melbourne Theatre Company's production of Poor Boy, a play with music, co-written by Matt Cameron and Tim Finn.[6]
In 2010 he appeared as playboy David, the Prince of Wales, who became King Edward VIII, in the award-winning film The King's Speech.
Pearce appeared in Australian band Silverchair's music video for "Across the Night" and in Razorlight's video for "Before I Fall to Pieces." He recorded the soundtrack for A Slipping Down Life, singing and playing guitar on cover versions of songs by Ron Sexsmith, Vic Chesnutt and Robyn Hitchcock.
On 18 September 2011, Pearce won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries for his work in Mildred Pierce as Monty Beragon.
In May 2012, Pearce was cast to star in David Michod's The Rover. In 2013, he will star as Dr. Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3.[7]
Personal life
He has been married to Kate Mestitz, a psychologist, since March 1997.[8] He is a long-standing supporter of the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (Aussie Rules).[9] Pearce does not believe in God but believes "we're all connected."[10]
Filmography
References
- ^ Gary Dretzka (1 June 2003). "An Interview With Guy Pearce". Movie City News. http://www.moviecitynews.com/Interviews/pearce.html. Retrieved 15 February 2009.[dead link]
- ^ Iley, Chrissy (4 March 2007). "Portrait of the artist". The Guardian (London). http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2025921,00.html. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ "Guy Pearce biography". Tiscali.co.uk. http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/guy_pearce_biog.html. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
- ^ "Guy Pearce Biography (1967–)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/14/Guy-Pearce.html. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
- ^ "It’s Bedtime for Keri Russell". Justjared.buzznet.com. 25 March 2008. http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/03/25/keri-russell-bedtime-stories/. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
- ^ a b Tracee Hutchison (27 January 2009). "Guy Pearce returns to the stage". The 7.30 Report. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2475577.htm. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
- ^ http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/robert-pattinson-joins-%e2%80%98the-rover%e2%80%99/
- ^ The Adventures of Guy Pearce. MovieMaker Magazine.
- ^ Collingwood Football Club[dead link]
- ^ Lytal, Cristy (27 August 2008). "Actor Guy Pearce is all about the details". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-pearce27-2008aug27,0,7893219.story. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ Graser, Marc; Kroll, Justin (2012-04-20). "Guy Pearce bonds with 'Iron Man 3'". Variety (magazine). http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118052904. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
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Mentioned in
Memento
(1992 Film)
Winged Creatures
(2008 Drama Film)
Traitor
(2008 Thriller Film)
Aly Khan
(Actor, Thriller/Science Fiction)
Flynn
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