The Hard Word: Interview

Review by By Clint Morris

Interview with Guy Pearce
Star of The Hard Word film.

Guy Pearce is one of the few remaining true blue originals. He's been nominated for an Oscar, gets to pick and choose his projects, has directors knocking down his doors and still, he remains a down-to-earth and genuinely nice guy. Clint Morris caught up with him, while back in Australia to promote The Hard Word.

Pearce liked the script

There's one thing that needs mentioning first - and that is how great Memento was, and how wrong it was for the Academy not to recognize it.

"Oh well thanks mate, but I'm not going to comment on that," he laughs. "But for the film's sake, thanks man," says a subdued Guy Pearce.

"Unfortunately there's no Memento sequel either, though. I guess Memento was the sequel," he laughs.

In The Hard Word, Pearce plays a rough around the edges bank robber, one of three brothers, but what actually enticed him to come back and do it?

"I didn't really come back to Australia to do The Hard Word, I came back because I live here, but I wanted to do The Hard Word because I, ultimately, was just moved by the script.

"I found it very funny, I enjoyed the combination of the two elements of the situation that the guys were in with the sense of humour that they had about it. I thought that was pretty Australian, and I think that Scott captured those characters pretty well, so when I read it I could totally imagine the scenario and, probably adding to that, I wanted to, and are still wanting to, find more work in Australia and spend a bit more time at home."

"I think we (as film going audiences) broadened and The Hard Word is fun in that juvenile sort of way. I don't mean that to sound derogatory, but it's a dynamic film." Guy Pearce did four films in a two-year period, including this Australian movie.

"Til Human Voices Wake Us, funnily enough, was the first one we did. Then Monte Cristo, The Time Machine and Hard Word. And Human Voices is the one that's yet to come out, but they all came out quite rapidly," he says. "It's like Halifax, a new episode each month," he laughs.

Pearce admits he's done so many films lately, mainly because he wants to try and play as many different characters as he can. "I'm fascinated really with so many people. I mean one of the problems I had at school was that I was so fascinated by the teachers and the other kids in the room, so it was really just about keeping my interest up.

"It's kind of hard to say because you might have a great experience on a film and the film doesn't work at that way, and it tanks. But L.A Confidential was a turning point for me. With that film though, I sort of hung around, did my part and then snuck away. With Memento I got so involved with Chris (Nolan) and the process of it being made, and that was an incredibly pure experience. Really that's how I think every film should be made, just as far as communication and everyone knowing what film they were really making, and people being really honest about it. It was practical, so practical."

L.A Confidential 2?

Surprisingly, his most recent release, The Time Machine, bombed at the box office. "As far as the finished film, I mean, I saw the finished film, and I knew it wasn't going to be a big film. And the life that it had was no surprise to me really." he says.

"There was a shot of a hand at the end, that wasn't even me. But I seem to be whinging a lot about this one in the press, so I won't." Despite the endless amount of film work he does today, Pearce admits he hasn't much of a grasp on the ever-changing Australian film industry.

"Because I've been away for so long, and because I've always kind of been in theatre and television, I've never known much about film here. I did a couple of films back in the late 80's with Boulevard films, and they were such a meaningless little company that the whole world hated them. And in 1993, Priscilla came along and that was sort of my first foray into the Australian film industry. So I've had sort of stabs at it, and people think I must know Australian people like Phil Noyce, but I don't know any of those guys."

One of the things you won't find Guy Pearce doing is snubbing his roots, in particular Neighbours. "I was there the other day as a matter of fact. I was driving past with a friend and we thought lets have a little walk. It's pretty funny; Jason Donovan and I were having a laugh about the old days the other night.

"And every now and then, Mitzy from Priscilla comes and bites me on the bum too. I love that film, and the experience I had making that film. I love the effect it had, and I love the life that it's had. As strange as it is to walk into a shop and hear someone playing "I love the nightlife," it is a great world to delve back into, but that in itself was a really extraordinary experience. It really allowed another side of my personality to come out," he says.

"I remember. Then they offered me Dating The Enemy. I said surely out of all the actors in Australia I'm the one who can't do Dating the Enemy. The interesting thing was, I suppose it was about finding a female character more so than a female impersonator so it was actually quite an interesting acting exercise.

"If I hadn't have done Priscilla, I possibly could have wanted to or could have gone down a more camp road for Dating. There are certain things in Dating the Enemy that I thought might have been a little too close to Priscilla."

While Pearce confesses he is taking a well-earned break for a while, insiders are talking about a possible L.A Confidential follow-up. But like, say, Star Wars Episode III, which most of his Aussie comrades will be lining up to do, he's sticking to original material.

"I've heard that rumour a few times. But I don't think I'd be interested. I mean with a film like that, unless it's going to be better I won't touch it," he says of the proposed sequel to the 1997 hit.

"As for Star Wars, I wasn't in the first one or second one, and I can't imagine the third one could be any worse than the first one. But nah, not for me," he laughs.

Click here for The Hard Word interview with Damien Richardson.

The Hard Word commences May 30th.

Brought to you by MovieHole