Guy Pearce is opening up about his troubling experiences with Kevin Spacey while they were filming “L.A. Confidential” and the “wake-up call” that he was “targeted” by the actor, whose mainstream success took a backseat amid allegations of sexual assault and harassment.
During a recent appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast, Pearce says he spent “five months” dismissing Spacey’s alleged advances as “nothing” as they worked on the 1997 neo-noir.
“I was sort of scared of Kevin because he’s quite an aggressive man,” said the Oscar-nominated “Brutalist” star, now 57. “He holds a room remarkably. But I was young and susceptible, and he targeted me, no question.”
Though Pearce contends he “probably was a victim to a degree,” he was hesitant to completely identify as one.
“I was certainly not a victim by any means to the extent that other people have been to sexual predators,” Pearce said, but added that “the only days” he felt safe were the days when actor Simon Baker was also on set.
At that point, Pearce would be “dumped like a hot potato” as Spacey focused on the “ten times prettier” Aussie.
Pearce says he realized Spacey’s impact on him amid the #MeToo movement, during which the latter was accused by multiple male actors of sexual assault dating back decades.
“I broke down and sobbed, and I couldn’t stop” upon hearing the allegations, Pearce recalled. “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.”
In the years since, Pearce says he’s “had a couple of confrontations with Kevin” that “got ugly,” adding that he doesn’t “want him to get away with what he gets away with.”
More than 50 men have accused Spacey of sexual misconduct. In 2023, he was acquitted of all nine counts for which he was on trial in a London court. Less than a year earlier, a New York jury found he did not sexually abuse actor Anthony Rapp.
