Despite the overall success of the two-time Academy Award-nominated drama Memento (2000), its star, two-time Golden Globe nominee Guy Pearce, recently claimed he was denied roles in multiple Christopher Nolan-directed films after a Warner Bros. executive took issue with him.
Pearce recently explained to Vanity Fair:
“He spoke to me about roles a few times over the years. 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.”
Pearce speculated, “I think he just didn’t believe in me as an actor.” Despite being blocked by the exec, it didn’t stop Nolan from campaigning for the actor to appear in his subsequent projects.
“They flew me to London, to discuss the Liam Neeson role for Batman, and I think it was decided on my flight that I wasn’t going to be in the movie. So I get there and Chris is like, ‘Hey, you want to see the Batmobile and get dinner?’”
With Nolan moving on from Warner Bros. in 2020 and currently working on a star-studded event film, Pearce quipped, “So now my time has come!”
Pearce added of working with Nolan on Memento, “It’s hard to compete with Chris Nolan. He’s such a towering intellect.”
Written and directed by Nolan, Memento stars Pearce as Leonard, a man struggling with short-term memory loss while trying to track down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The film also starred Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano.
Hopefully we see Pearce and Nolan reunite now that they are further from the grips of Warner Bros.
via: Deadline
