Guy Pearce

Guy Pearce (born 5.10.1967)

Guy Pearce is an Australian film actor and musician. He started out his career in Australian soap operas but has made a successful transition to starring in Hollywood films.

Guy Pearce: Childhood

Guy Pearce was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. His mother is Ann Cocking (born Pickering). She was born in County Durham and was a schoolteacher, specialising in needlework and home economics. His father, Stuart Pearce, was an air force test pilot. He passed away when Guy Pearce was nine years old.

At the age of three, Guy Pearce moved with his family to Geelong, Australia. His mother ran a deer farm there.

Guy Pearce attended The Geelong College and was also a member of the GSODA Junior Players, a non-professional theatre company. He was also an amateur bodybuilder and won the Mr. Natural Victoria title.

In the late 1980s, he lived in Victoria, whilst he worked on the famous Australian soap opera Neighbours.

Guy Pearce: Acting Career

Guy Pearce appeared in a number of theatre productions as a child. In 1985, he started working in television when he was cast in the role of Mike Young in Neighbours. Other actors to have appeared in the cast of Neighbours include Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Holly Valance and Russell Crowe. Other television appearances include Home and Away, another Australian soap opera and Snowy River: The McGregor Saga, which also starred Hugh Jackman, who went on to star in the X-Men film series.

In 1991, Frank Howson cast Guy Pearce in Hunting and even paid for Guy to attend the premier of the film at the Cannes Film Festival. The publicity campaign that accompanied the film was successful in bringing Pearce to international attention in the film community.

Pearce's big break in the movie world came in 1994 when he was cast as a drag queen in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. The film also starred Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Julia Cortez.

Other notable films that Pearce appeared in around this time include L.A. Confidential, alongside Kim Basinger and Kevin Spacey as well as Ravenous, which co-starred the British actor Robert Carlyle. He then appeared in Rules of Engagement, a military drama starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson.

The next big leap in Guy Pearce's career came when he was cast in the thriller Memento. The film was directed by Christopher Nolan, who would later take on the Batman franchise.

He went on to star in The Count of Monte Cristo with Richard Harris and The Time Machine, which was based on a novel by H.G. Wells and also starred the Irish pop singer Samantha Mumba.

He then played the New York pop art leader Andy Warhol in Factory Girl. The film centered around the character of Edie Sedgewick, played by Sienna Miller. It also starred Hayden Christensen and Mena Suvari.

This was followed by another historical role, playing Harry Houdini in the film Death Defying Acts, opposite the Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones.

In 2008, when John Hillcoat directed the film version of Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road, Guy Pearce was cast as the character of a father, wandering with his family. Other actors in the film include Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall and Charlize Theron.

Also in 2008, Guy Pearce was cast in Adam Sandler's Bedtime Stories.

Outside of Hollywood, Guy Pearce has continued to work in the Australian film industry. In 2002 he appeared in The Hard Word, with Rachel Griffiths. Three years later, he starred in The Proposition. The film was written by Nick Cave and also starred Ray Winstone, Emily Watson and John Hurt.

Guy Pearce has also appeared in music videos for bands such as Silverchair and Razorlight. His passion for music came through when he helped to record the soundtrack to A Slipping Down Life, playing guitar on songs by Vic Chestnutt, Robyn Hitchcock and Ron Sexsmith.

Guy Pearce: Personal Life

Guy Pearce married the psychologist Kate Mestitz, in March 1997.