Brutalist actor Guy Pearce recalls wanting to punch an actress for mocking his Soap Opera career

Guy Pearce shared a memory about wanting to punch a "snobby" actress for mocking the Australian soap opera Neighbours, where he worked for years. As part of his Oscar campaign for The Brutalist, where he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Pearce did an interview with The Times— published on January 31, 2025— about his previous works, including "bad films."

In the interview, the actor also recalled a time about an actress with a "horrible attitude" looked down on his time in Neighbours.

"I did a play a year after I left [Neighbours] and this snobby actress said, 'How could you even do that?' I wanted to punch her! Now, obviously, I didn't punch her. But it was such a horrible attitude," he said.

Guy Pearce recalled further that he saw the same actress five years later doing "some sh*t ad" on the television. He said that seeing that made him want to go to her and say, "OK..."

The Brutalist actor is proud of his soap opera roots, which wasn't surprising that he would have strong feelings over someone trying to mock it. He was cast in Neighbours from 1986 to 1989, and while he ventured to other projects after that, he returned to the soap opera for its series finale in 2022.

Guy Pearce also said that he has "many feelings" about Neighbours. He recalled how people in the industry would look down on those doing soap operas because it's considered "the lowest of the low," compared to acting in theatre or films. However, the Oscar nominee considered it an opportunity and that he learned a lot from his time there.

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Guy Pearce admits doing "bad" films during his divorce period because he needed the cash

While Guy Pearce was proud of his soap opera career, he admits that he did some questionable film projects years ago solely for the money. During the same interview with The Times, he recalled his "divorce period," and how he accepted jobs thinking only about the cash he could get from the projects to pay off his divorce.

"I did a bunch of sh*t during my divorce because I needed the money," he said.

Guy Pearce separated from Kate Mestitz in 2015 after 18 years of marriage. According to the actor, the divorce proceedings happened around the period of 2016 to 2018. He further told The Times:

"I'd read scripts thinking, no, this is pretty good actually, I could do this ... But a year earlier I would have said no. You're forced to expand your tolerance of things when you need dough, so it was a real relief once I paid off my divorce."

He added that those times "blurred" his vision when it came to determining which projects to consider working on, ending with him having to second guess himself.

"I'd read something that I felt was good and then question myself. Is it good? Or just in the camp of paying off my divorce?" he stated.

The Brutalist was nominated for Best Film at the 2025 BAFTA, among nods in eight other categories, with the ceremony scheduled for February 16.

The Brutalist was also nominated in 10 categories for the 2025 Oscars, including Adrien Brody for the leading role and Guy Pearce for a supporting role.