Guy Pearce has alleged he was “targeted” by fellow actor Kevin Spacey and “scared” of him on set of their 1997 film, L.A. Confidential.
The Australian actor claimed on The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast Awards Chatter that he had “brushed off” his experiences with Spacey, but “sobbed” when Spacey made headlines around 2017 when he was accused of alleged sexual misconduct by various men, including actor Anthony Rapp.
Spacey was recently cleared of nine sexual assault charges in a UK court.
He has previously denied all allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
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However, it was reported this month that another sexual abuse claim was lodged against him.
Actor Ruari Cannon is suing Spacey and two organisations connected to London’s Old Vic theatre, where Spacey reportedly worked as an artistic director from 2003 to 2015.
When asked about Spacey on the podcast, Pearce, 57, said: “I did that thing a lot of people do.”
But he did not specify exactly what happened.
“I don’t want to use the word victim… Even though I probably was a victim to a degree, I was certainly not a victim by any means to the extent that other people have been to sexual predators,” he continued.
“But I did that thing that you do where you brush it off and go, ‘oh, no that’s nothing…’ and I did that for five months.
“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.
“But I was young and susceptible, and he targeted me, no question.”
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He claimed Spacey would “dump him like a hot potato” when actor Simon Baker was on set.
“I used to say, the only days I feel safe are the days when Simon [Baker] is on set because I’m dumped like a hot potato, and [Kevin] focuses on Simon because he was 10 times prettier than I am.”
He claimed he had confronted Spacey a few times.
“I had a couple of confrontations with Kevin post-that, that got ugly.”
Speaking about when allegations against Spacey came to light in 2017, Pearce added: “I was in London working on something, and I heard this and I broke down and sobbed, and I couldn’t stop.”
“And 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.”
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In a video shared on his official X account, Spacey hit back at Pearce and captioned it: “Grow up, Guy Pearce. You are not a victim.”
“You really want to know what my response is? Grow up. Did you also, by the way, tell the press that a year after we shot L.A. Confidential, you flew to Savannah, Georgia, while I was shooting Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, just to spend time with me?”
“I mean, did you tell the press that, too? Or does that not fit into the victim narrative you have going?”
“I apologise that I didn’t get the message that you don’t like spending time with me. I mean, maybe there was another reason. I don’t know. But that doesn’t make any sense that you would have just been leading me on, right?”
Spacey said he has been “in hell and back” recently.
“What took you so long? Did your horse run out of gas? I mean, you want to have a conversation? I’m happy to do so. Any time, any place. We can even do it here, live on X if you like. I’ve got nothing to hide. But, Guy, you need to grow up. You are not a victim.”
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit their website. In an emergency, call 000.
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