Guy Pearce has opened up about his unpleasant experience working with Kevin Spacey on the 1997 film L.A. Confidential.
Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Pearce got emotional when recalling his time on set with the House Of Cards actor.
Pearce said that he responded to Spacey’s alleged advances whilst filming classic neo-noir movie L.A. Confidential by brushing them off and thinking “Ah, that’s nothing. Ah, no, that’s nothing”.
He continued: “I did that for five months and really, I was sort of scared of Kevin because he’s quite an aggressive man. He’s extremely charming and brilliant at what he does – really impressive, etc. He holds a room remarkably. But I was young and susceptible, and he targeted me, no question.”
Pearce recalled telling his then-wife while shooting that “the only days I feel safe are the days when [co-star Simon Baker] is on set because I’m dumped like a hot potato, and [Kevin] focuses on [Simon] because he was 10 times prettier than I am.”
Spacey faced a wave of sexual misconduct allegations during the rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017 – including claims from Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp that Spacey made advances towards him when he was just 14. Spacey has long denied any allegations of inappropriate behaviour and criminal wrongdoing, and was acquitted of all nine charges of sexual assault in 2023, as well as being found not liable in Rapp’s case against him.
It was only at this time, two decades after making the film, that Pearce said he was able to understand what had happened to him.
He said: “I was in London working on something, and I heard [the reports] and I broke down and sobbed, and I couldn’t stop. I think it really dawned on me the impact that had occurred and how I sort of brushed it off and how I had either shelved it or blocked it out or whatever. That was a really incredible wake up call.”
He continued: “Even though I probably was a victim to a degree; I was certainly not a victim by any means to the extent that other people have been to sexual predators.
“I just try to be more honest about it now and call it for what it is.”
Pearce did not specify any details regarding what happened between him and Spacey in this latest interview, though the actor did call Spacey a “handsy guy” when speaking on an Australian talk show in 2018. He later released a statement about that, in which he said: “Although I wasn’t sexually assaulted or molested, I was made to feel uncomfortable”.
In a tweet released Tuesday (February 18), Spacey replied to Pearce’s comments with a dismissal of his claims. “We worked together a long time ago. If I did something then to upset you, then you know you could have reached out to me. We could have had that conversation” he said. “You really want to know what my response is? Grow up” he concluded, before telling the actor “You are not a victim”. The full statement can be viewed below.
Grow up, Guy Pearce. You are not a victim. pic.twitter.com/33paGTj4Aq
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) February 18, 2025
Most recently seen on the big screen in Brady Corbet’s historial epic The Brutalist, Pearce is currently in the midst of an awards campaign, after being Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as wealthy American businessman Harrison Lee Van Buren Sr.
One of Pearce’s most beloved movies by fans is Christopher Nolan’s psychological thriller Memento, in which he plays a man suffering from amnesia. But earlier this month (February 2025), the actor revealed he does not enjoy his performance in the film – and In December 2024, he said he was blocked from working with Nolan again by a studio executive.