Guy Edward Pearce born 5 October 1967 is a British-Australian actor, musician, singer and songwriter. He is known for having starred in the role of Mike Young in the Australian television series Neighbours and for appearing in films such as The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), L.A. Confidential (1997), Ravenous (1999), Memento (2000), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), The Time Machine (2002), The Road (2009), The King’s Speech (2010), 33 Postcards (2011) and Iron Man 3 (2013). In Australian cinema, he has appeared in The Proposition (2005), Animal Kingdom (2010), Prometheus (2012), The Rover (2014), Holding the Man (2015), The Wizards of Aus (2016) and Alien: Covenant (2017). He has won a Primetime Emmy Award and received nominations for Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and AACTA Awards. Since 2012, he has played the title role in the TV adaptations of the Jack Irish stories by Australian crime writer Peter Temple.
Early life
Pearce was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. When Pearce was three years old, the family relocated to Geelong, Victoria. When Pearce was eight years old, his father died in an aviation accident.
Pearce attended Geelong College, and was a member of the Geelong Society of Dramatic Arts (GSODA) Junior Players. At the age of 16, he was a competitive amateur bodybuilder, leading to the title of Junior Mr. Victoria. He lived in Box Hill North, Victoria in the late 1980s while working on the Australian drama series Neighbours. His first film appearance, while still at Geelong College, was in a Victorian Vice Chancellors funded film “Life and Study at University”, produced and directed by Peter Lane of Deakin University. Guy was 17 years old and played a 21 year old student.
Career
Pearce transitioned 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).
Pearce at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
The director/producer/writer Frank Howson cast Pearce in his first three films, Heaven Tonight, Hunting, and Flynn, 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 US 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. Pearce continued to perform in Australian films, such as The Hard Word (2002) and The Proposition (2005), written by fellow Australian Nick Cave.
In January 2009, Pearce returned to the stage after a seven-year absence. He performed in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Poor Boy, a play with music, co-written by Matt Cameron and Tim Finn.
Wax figure at Madame Tussauds in Sydney portraying Pearce as Felicia Jollygoodfellow
In 2009, he portrayed Staff Sergeant Matthew Thompson in The Hurt Locker. In 2010, he appeared as David, Prince of Wales, who became King Edward VIII, in The King’s Speech. Both films won the Academy Award for Best Picture, making Pearce the first actor to appear in back-to-back Best Picture winners since Michael Peña (who appeared in Million Dollar Baby and Crash).
Pearce starred the eponymous lead in the Australian TV miniseries Jack Irish, an adaptation of the detective novels of author Peter Temple broadcast on the ABC network in 2012. In May 2012, Pearce was cast to star in David Michôd’s The Rover. In 2013, Pearce played the villain character Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3.
Pearce had a supporting role in Neil Armfield’s romantic-drama film Holding the Man, as Dick Conigrave. The 2015 film stars Ryan Corr and Craig Stott, with supporting performances from Pearce, Anthony LaPaglia and Geoffrey Rush. Holding the Man was adapted from Timothy Conigrave’s 1995 memoir of the same name.
Next to acting, Guy has a lifelong passion for music and songwriting. He released his first album, Broken Bones, in November 2014. Pearce appeared in a documentary special celebrating Neighbours‘ 30th anniversary titled Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite, which aired in Australia and the UK in March 2015.
Pearce released his second studio album The Nomad in 2018.
Videos and awards
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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 the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his work in Mildred Pierce as Monty Beragon opposite Kate Winslet.
Personal life
Pearce married his childhood sweetheart, psychologist Kate Mestitz, in March 1997. In October 2015, Pearce confirmed he and Mestitz had ended their marriage after 18 years. Pearce is in a relationship with Dutch actress Carice van Houten; they have a son, Monte, who was born in August 2016.
An Australian rules football fan who supports the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League, Pearce has done media work with the club, including a documentary narration.
He supports a number of charitable organizations for many causes such as animal rights, animal welfare and protecting the Earth’s ecology.