Guy Pearce was blocked from working with Christopher Nolan by Warner Bros

Posted On December 17, 2024December 17, 2024

Guy Pearce has revealed that he wanted to work with Christopher Nolan again after Memento, but a Warner Brothers executive intervened to stop his plans.

During a new interview, Pearce spoke warmly about Nolan, who burst onto the Hollywood scene with that acclaimed 2000 backwards noir. However, despite Pearce receiving plaudits for his performance as amnesiac investigator Leonard Shelby and Nolan’s noted propensity for working with the same actors in multiple projects, another collaboration never materialised. As Pearce explained, though, it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

“He spoke to me about roles a few times over the years,” revealed Pearce to Vanity Fair. “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,” admitted Pearce. “I mean, fair enough: there are some actors I don’t get. But it meant I could never work with Chris.“

Pearce revealed that the role Nolan envisioned him for in Batman Begins was Henri Ducard/Ra’s al Ghul, the film’s main villain. However, he knew before he even arrived at the meeting that the part wouldn’t be his. The Australian actor explained, “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. So, I get there, and Chris is like, ‘Hey, you want to see the Batmobile and get dinner?’”

It was a tough pill for the star to swallow, but he had to accept that this particular executive “just didn’t believe in me as an actor.” However, it became a long-running problem for Pearce because Nolan made all his movies from 2002’s Insomnia through 2020’s Tenet at Warner Bros. This meant the actor wouldn’t stand a chance of reuniting with Nolan for nearly two decades. Vanity Fair reached out to Warner for comment, but the venerable studio offered nothing in response.

While Pearce must have been frustrated about being blocked from working with Nolan again for so long, the Brutalist star did admit that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. In the wake of Warner’s botched release of Tenet, which led to Nolan’s very public falling out with the studio, the director made Oppenheimer at Universal. His next film – which is currently unnamed but will star Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Robert Pattinson – will also be a Universal picture.

This change of studio could finally open the door for Pearce and Nolan to work together again. The actor certainly seems to hope so, as he joked, “So, now my time has come!”

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