Guy Pearce has revealed that the reason he has not worked with Christopher Nolan since the 2000 film Memento is because he was repeatedly blocked by a Warner Bros executive who didn’t like his acting.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Pearce said he had not worked with Nolan – famed for working with the same actors in many of his films – since the director began working with Warner Bros for his 2002 thriller Insomnia, an 18-year relationship that ended with his 2020 film Tenet.
Pearce said Nolan had approached him to play Ra’s al Ghul in 2005 film Batman Begins (eventually played by Liam Neeson), as well as a character in his 2006 film, The Prestige.
“He spoke to me about roles a few times over the years,” the 57-year-old actor said. “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.”
The unnamed executive “just didn’t believe in me as an actor”, Pearce said, which meant he missed out on roles.
“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 said. “So I get there and Chris is like, ‘Hey, you want to see the Batmobile and get dinner?’”
Warner Bros did not respond to a request for comment from Vanity Fair.
Pearce and Nolan may yet work together again. The director ended his relationship with Warner Bros over a disagreement with its decision to simultaneously release films in theatres and on the streaming service HBO Max, a fate he did not want for his 2023 historical drama Oppenheimer. He moved to Universal Pictures and Oppenheimer won seven Oscars, including best director for Nolan.
“So now my time has come!” Pearce told Vanity Fair.
Nolan is working at Universal again on an as-yet-unnamed film coming out in 2026 that will star Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Charlize Theron and Anne Hathaway.
