"He targeted me": Guy Pearce opens up about unsettling experiences with Kevin Spacey on L.A. Confidential set

Actor Guy Pearce is having quite a tremendous awards season. For his role in The Brutalist, he has been nominated for multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award. He has had a long career that includes films like Memento, Prometheus, The Rover, and The Hurt Locker.

Guy Pearce recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter and got candid about a difficult experience while shooting for one of his most popular movies: L.A. Confidential, where he starred opposite Kevin Spacey. Pearce revealed how he felt unsafe and scared around the actor because he was reportedly quite "aggressive."

“I did that for five months (L.A. Confidential), 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," said Pearce in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

In 2017, actor Kevin Spacey had several s*xual misconduct allegations against him. This led to him getting booted off House of Cards as well as many other project. While Spacey denies these claims, since then even more people have come forward with similar allegations.

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Guy Pearce "broke down" when Kevin Spacey's allegations came out

In L.A. Confidential, Guy Pearce starred alongside Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey. While Pearce has maintained a great relationship with Crowe, he recalled in the same interview that he had a few run-ins with Spacey that almost got "ugly." Recounting his time working on the film's set, Pearce mentioned how the only time he felt safe on the set was when co-star Simon Baker was around.

“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," said Guy Pearce.

However, he recalled that when the allegations came out at the height of the #MeToo movement, he broke down as he hadn't fully processed what had happened until then.

“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,” revealed Pearce.

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Guy Pearce previously spoke about issues with Kevin Spacey in 2018

Following Kevin Spacey's outing, actor Guy Pearce spoke about the former star's allegations with talk show host Andrew Denton in 2018. Pearce spoke about how he was made uncomfortable by Spacey:

“I very much understand that it’s too sensitive a topic to be brushed off. Although I wasn’t s*xually assaulted or molested, I was made to feel uncomfortable."

While other Hollywood personalities like Paul Schrader and Brian Cox have recently showcased their support for Spacey, Pearce's comments come right after them.

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Fans can currently check out Guy Pearce in The Brutalist as it is playing in theatres right now.