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The Brutalist star Guy Pearce says he was “scared” of Kevin Spacey when they worked together on 1997’s L.A. Confidential.
Pearce, 57, opened up about his experience working with Spacey on Saturday’s episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast, saying he was “targeted” by Spacey, 65, on set, but didn’t fully realize the “impact” until additional allegations against Spacey were reported in 2017, when the #MeToo movement picked up momentum.
“I was scared of Kevin because he’s quite an aggressive man, and … extremely charming and brilliant at what he does — and really impressive, etc. He holds a room remarkably,” Pearce said. “But I was young and susceptible, and he targeted me, no question.”
Pearce’s then-wife, Kate Mestiz, was there while he was filming L.A. Confidential, and he recalled telling her that the “only days” he felt safe on set were when co-star Simon Baker was there, because “he was 10 times prettier than I am” and Spacey turned his attentions to him.
During the months of filming, Pearce said he dismissed the uncomfortable encounters, thinking, “no, that’s nothing.” Then when “everything came to light” in 2017, he “broke down.”
“(I) heard these stories about Kevin sort of officially as new stories,” Pearce said. “I was in London working on something, and I heard this and I broke down and sobbed, and I couldn’t stop.”
In 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey made sexual advances toward him when he was just 14 years old. Following the allegation, several other actors came forward with similar claims. As a result, Spacey was fired from his hit Netflix series House of Cards and ordered to pay $31 million to producers.
In 2022, Spacey was found not liable for battery in Rapp’s case in New York, and in 2023 a U.K. court found him not guilty of sexual assault in a separate case.
Although Pearce said he doesn’t want to use the word “victim,” the encounters had an “impact” on him.
I think it really dawned on me the impact that had occurred, and how I’d sort of brushed it off, and how I shelved it or blocked it out or whatever. That was a really incredible wakeup call,” Pearce said. After 2017, Pearce said he had “a couple confrontations” with Spacey that turned “ugly.”
Pearce previously hinted at his issues with Spacey during a 2018 interview Australian talk show host Andrew Denton, describing the older actor as “handsy.”
“I just try to be more honest about it now, and call it for what it is,” Pearce said on the podcast.