Guy Pearce revealed in a new interview with Vanity Fair that he was blocked from starring in Christopher Nolan movies after 2000’s “Memento” because a Warner Bros. executive just didn’t like his acting. The director’s relationship with the Hollywood studio started right after “Memento” with the 2002 psychological thriller “Insomnia.” Nolan and Warner Bros. then worked together for 18 years through the 2020 release of “Tenet.” The director’s tenure at the studio included blockbusters like “Inception” and “The Dark Knight” trilogy.
“He spoke to me about roles a few times over the years,” Pearce said when asked about his relationship with Nolan after the breakout success of “Memento.” “The first ‘Batman’ and ‘The Prestige.’ But there was an executive at Warner Bros. who quite openly said to my agent, ‘I don’t get Guy Pearce. I’m never going to get Guy Pearce. I’m never going to employ Guy Pearce.’ So, in a way, that’s good to know. I mean, fair enough; there are some actors I don’t get. But it meant I could never work with Chris.”
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Pearce said this particular Warner Bros. executive “just didn’t believe in me as an actor,” which blocked him from acting in Nolan movies like “Batman Begins” even though the director had him fly to London to read for the role of Ra’s al Ghul. Nolan cast Liam Neeson in the part.
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“They flew me to London to discuss the Liam Neeson role and I think it was decided on my flight that I wasn’t going to be in the movie,” Pearce remembered. “So I get there and Chris is like ‘Hey, you want to see the Batmobile and get dinner?'”
Fortunately for Pearce, Nolan’s tenure at Warner Bros. came to an end after the 2020 release of “Tenet.” The director made his most recent movie, the Oscar winner “Oppenheimer, at Universal Pictures and is re-teaming with that studio for his mysterious new project that is releasing in 2026. Nolan’s new movie is starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway and more. Both Damon and Hathaway have appeared in previous Nolan features.
Pearce, meanwhile, is expected to land an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor this season thanks to his acclaimed role in “The Brutalist.” Read his full interview with Vanity Fair here.
