“I will take this to my grave”: Guy Pearce names the best director he ever worked with
Despite his rightful belief that he should have ended up a much bigger star than he became, Guy Pearce has still had his fair share of major roles and worked with more than a few renowned directors, including Ridley Scott, Kathryn Bigelow and Curtis Hanson. However, none of these directors made quite the mark that Christopher Nolan did on the actor.
Pearce worked with the director on his second feature film, the 2000 psychological neo-noir Memento, which unsurprisingly played with chronology and memory. After reading the script, Pearce wanted the role so badly that he decided to call the director to register his interest. The only time he would – in his own words “embarrassingly” – take such an action to acquire a role.
However, speaking to Empire, Pearce recalls Nolan being characteristically non-committal. After all, the director isn’t known for being throwaway with his filmmaking decisions. Pearce did land the role, but this was more than likely because Nolan thought him exactly right for the role. And clearly, he was right, as the film brought both critical acclaim and put the future Batman director on the proverbial map.
And despite Pearce’s disappointments over his own career, he claims the making of the film is an experience he’s incredibly proud of and will take to his grave, not due to the film’s success or due to the prestige of working with who is now one of the most acclaimed directors of his generation, but due to the experience of working alongside Nolan himself. “I’ve worked with great people: Ridley Scott, Kathryn Bigelow, Curtis Hanson, and they’re all fantastic, wonderful people, but Chris is unique. A very special human being. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.”
And honestly, who is surprised at this point? Christopher Nolan seems to be universally beloved by all those who work with him. Pearce is another to add to the list, including Cillian Murphy and Hugh Jackman, the latter of whom claimed “there’s not a person in Hollywood who doesn’t love him”.
This is a difficult status to achieve in Hollywood of all places, where frequently directors of Nolan’s level are renowned for being, at best, difficult to work with and, at worst, outright aggressive and abusive. Mostly, they’re forgiven in the name of their creative genius or ability to bring in the big bucks. Yet, Nolan doesn’t need to be forgiven for his, at times, exhaustive attention to detail because he seems to be just as wonderful to work with as he is dedicated to his craft.
In Pearce’s eyes, Nolan does one better than being an ‘actor’s director’ by being an ‘everybody’s director’. While he holds all whom he works with to the highest standard, he does so in an communicative way. Pearce stated, “Wow, I’m really working with someone who’s fantastic. Not just because of how clever he was, and how honest and humble he was, but how communicative he was about what he wanted to achieve and how he was gonna achieve it through the technical channels, how he wanted to shoot it.”
Jackman also highlighted Nolan’s ability to communicate, so it seems this quality is what endears the director to so many actors and crew members he works with. Despite your opinion on the auteur’s filmography, it’s hard to deny that it’s refreshing to witness such an acclaimed director work with such integrity and patience when it’s so often lacking in the profession.
