Guy Pearce stars as a skeptical doctor helping a worried mom in search of a cure for her daughter’s demonic possession in the new horror thriller Killing Faith.
Here are 10 things you probably don’t know about the 58-year-old actor.
1. Guy was born on Oct. 5, 1967, in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, to Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot and RAF test pilot dad Stuart Pearce and English schoolteacher Anne Pickering. The family moved to Australia when Guy was age 3, and his father was tragically killed in an aircraft accident when Guy was 8.
2. Around age 9, Guy joined amateur theater, appearing in stage productions of The King and I, Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. While in school, he played the clarinet and saxophone in the Geelong Regional Concert Band. On the flip side, he was a competitive amateur bodybuilder and won the Junior Mr. Victoria title at age 16.
3. Guy made his mark in the U.S. playing a female impersonator in the 1994 road comedy film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. His agent tried to talk him out of taking the part, saying his career would be ruined before it started. He reportedly replied during an interview with Business Insider, “Nope, I’m absolutely doing this. It’s a great f**king script.”
4. When he got the script for Memento, it’s a good thing director Christopher Nolan told him in advance that the story goes backwards, otherwise he’d have read it over and over trying to figure it all out!
5. His favorite sitcoms are Friends and Seinfeld.
6. In Prometheus, Guy endured five hours in the makeup chair to age him to 100, and another hour to take it all off. In addition, he couldn’t sit down because he had a metal frame, so in between takes he would simply lean against a wall!
7. When asked during an interview with The Guardian who he’d sit next to if he attended a dinner party with all the characters he’s played, Guy said he’d avoid Eric from The Rover and the Reverend from Brimstone because they might kill him! He’d sit next to Andy Warhol (Factory Girl) and Houdini (Death Defying Acts). He’d love to watch Leonard from Memento because he’d eat dessert first and end his meal with an appetizer because he’s all backwards.
8. Guy is a champion for the conservation of endangered animals, and is a supporter of Australia Zoo, World Wildlife Fund and other such organizations.
9. Guy was married to psychologist Kate Mestitz from 1997 to 2015, and has one son, Monte, born in 2016, with ex-girlfriend and Game of Thrones actress Carice van Houten.
10. Earlier this year, Guy got his first Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor in The Brutalist. Ironically, he says he never wanted to be a big star, reportedly telling Business Insider, “I didn’t have that sense of ambition. I just wanted to work as an actor. On the outside, you think you want fame and big Hollywood movies; none of that is how I function.”