Born October 5, 1967 in Cambridgeshire, England, Guy Edward Pearce is the son of an Australia father and an English mother. When he was just three years old, his family moved to Australia for two years when his father was offered the position of Chief Test Pilot for the Australian Government. The position became permanent, and the family decided to settle in the country. Five years later, his father was killed in a training exercise leaving his mother, a schoolteacher, left alone to bring up him and his intellectually and physically challenged older sister.
Having little interest in subjects at school like math or science, he favored art, drama and music. He joined local theatre groups at a young age and appeared in such productions as The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Wizard of Oz.
In 1985, just two days after his final high school exam, Pearce started a four-year stint as “Mike Young” on the popular Aussie soap opera, Neighbors. At age 20, he appeared in his first film, Heaven Tonight, released in 1989. After a string of appearances in film, television and on stage, he won the role of an outrageous drag queen in Stephan Elliott’s 1994 film, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which made him an international star.
From 1994-1995, Pearce was a co-lead in the Australian TV series, Snowy River: The McGregor Saga. In 1997, he was one of the stars of Curtis Hanson’s award-winning L.A. Confidential for which he won several awards. In 2000, he had a major supporting role in William Friedkin’s The Rules of Engagement and the lead in Christopher Nolan’s Memento (a 2001 release in the U.S.) for which he received numerous awards.
Pearce had a major supporting role in Kevin Reynolds’ 2002 version of The Count of Monte Cristo and the starring role in Simon Wells’ version of The Time Machine that same year. He had the lead in John Hillcoat’s 2005 film, The Proposition and then played Andy Warhol opposite Sienna Miller’s Edie Segwick in George Hickenlooper’s 2006 film, Factory Girl. He had a major supporting role in Kathryn Bigelow’s 2009 Oscar winning The Hurt Locker and played Edward XVIII in Tom Hooper’s Oscar winning The King’s Speech the following year.
In 2011, Pearce won an Emmy for Todd Haynes’ TV miniseries version of Mildred Pearce in support of Kate Winslet who also won an Emmy in the role that previously won Joan Crawford an Oscar. He had the role played by Zachary Scott in the 1945 film.
Between 2016 and 2021, Pearce starred in 16 episodes of the Australian detective series, Jack Irish. In 2021, he and Winslet were reunited in Brad Inglesby’s Mare of Easttown for which Winslet once again won an Emmy. Pearce was not nominated this time around.
Intensely private, Pearce married his childhood sweetheart, actress Kate Mestits, in 1997. They were divorced in 2015. Since then, he has been in a relationship with Dutch actress Carice van Houten with whom he has a son, Noah, born in 2016. They have recently relocated to the Netherlands.
Guy Pearce received his first Oscar nomination at long last for his supporting performance in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist. He is still an international star at 57 with roles in six upcoming films including a sequel to The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the film that made him a star more than thirty years ago.
THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT (1994), directed by Stephan Elliott
Nominated for numerous awards around the world, this instant classic comedy won an Oscar for its costumes worn by the film’s transgender woman played by Terence Stamp and two drag queens played by Hugo Weaving and Pearce in the role that made him a star. Priscilla is the name of the pink bus in which the three drive from Sydney to the Australian desert to perform their show. All three stars were singled out for awards, most notably Stamp who was nominated for a BAFTA. A sequel reuniting all three stars was announced as being in pre-production in May of 2024. Slated to be directed by Elliott, it will be called Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 2.
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997), directed by Curtis Hanson
Nominated for 9 Oscars and winner of 2, this brilliant neo-noir had the misfortune of being up against Titanic which beat it all the categories in which they were both nominated except for supporting actress which was won by Kim Basinger as a prostitute made up as Veronica Lake. She won over Goria Stuart as the 100-year-old version of Kate Winslet’s character. Like Titanic’s Leonardo DiCaprio, neither of the film’s lead actors, Pearce and Russell Crowe, were nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. English born Pearce and New Zealand born Crowe both made believable L.A. 1950s detectives in the film that also starred Kevin Spacey.
MEMENTO (2000), directed by Christopher Nolan
Pearce had another of memorable early roles as an insurance investigator whi suffers from anterograde amnesia and uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife, which is the last thing he remembers in this breakthrough film for director Nolan. The film is based on a short story by Nolan’s brother Jonathan. The film’s two Oscar nominations went to the Nolan brothers for their screenplay and editor Dody Dorn. Pearce received a Best Actor nomination from the Boston film Critics Association losing in a tie to Brian Cox in L.I.E. and Denzel Washington in Training Day.
THE KING’S SPEECH (2010), directed by Tom Hooper
Nominated for 12 Oscars and winner of 4 including Best Picture, Director, and Actor Colin Firth as England’s George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth II, it was the abdication of his brother Edward VIII played by Pearce that caused the monarch’s unexpected ascension to the throne. Among the film’s nominations were Best Actress Helena Bonham Carter as George’s wife, Elizabeth, later known as the Queen Mother, and Geoffrey Rush as the speech therapist who helps him overcome his speech stammer. Pearce was 21st billed in the film’s credits behind Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon but ahead of Claire Bloom as his mother, Queen Mary.
THE BRUTALIST (2024), directed by Brady Corbet
Nominated for 10 Oscars, Oscar nominated Pearce is third billed as a seemingly charming industrial, the mysterious, wealthy client who commissions Holocaust survivor Adrien Brody to design a grand modernist monument and help shape the landscape of the country he now calls home. It will be the most ambitious project of his career, one that will take Brody and his wife Felicity Jones to both monumental heights and devastating lows. Oscar nominations also went to Brody, Jones, the film’s screenplay, cinematography, editing, production design, score, director Corbet, and the film itself. It has already won many awards leading up to the Oscars.
GUY PEARCE AND OSCAR
The Brutalist (2024) – Nominated – Best Supporting Actor
