Guy Pearce Picture 4

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 when his son was eight, Pearce's mother decided to keep her family in Australia, 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 critically eviscerated Ravenous (1999), Antonia Bird's tale of chaos and cannibalism which cast Pearce alongside the likes of David Arquette and Robert Carlyle. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Two Brothers (2004)
Hard Word, The (2002) .... Dale Twentyman
Time Machine, The (2002) .... Alexander Hartdegen
Count of Monte Cristo, The (2002) .... Fernand Mondego, Count of Morcerf
... aka Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) (USA: complete title)
Till Human Voices Wake Us (2001) .... Sam Franks
Memento (2000) .... Leonard Shelby
Rules of Engagement (2000) .... Maj. Mark Biggs
... aka Règles d'engagement, Les (2000) (Canada: French title)
... aka Rules - Sekunden der Entscheidung (2000) (Germany)
Film-Fest DVD: Issue 1 - Sundance (1999) (V) .... Himself
Ravenous (1999) .... Captain John Boyd
... aka Voraz (1999) (Mexico)
Slipping Down Life, A (1999) .... Drumstrings Casey
Woundings (1998) .... Jimmy Compton
Devil Game, The (1997) (TV) .... Michael
Halifax f.p: Déjà Vu (1997) (TV) .... Daniel Viney/Richard Viney
L.A. Confidential (1997) .... Detective Lieutenant Edmund Jennings Exley
Flynn (1996) .... Errol Flynn
Dating the Enemy (1996) .... Brett
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The (1994) .... Adam Whitely/Felicia Jollygoodfellow
"Snowy River: The McGregor Saga" (1993) TV Series .... Rob McGregor
... aka "Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River" (1993)
"Home and Away" (1988) TV Series .... David Croft (1991-1992)
Hunting (1991) .... Sharp
Friday on My Mind (1990)
... aka Final Stage, The (1990/II)
Heaven Tonight (1990) .... Paul Dysart
"Neighbours" (1985) TV Series .... Mike Young (1986-1990)