Hollywood star Guy Pearce has openly admitted his dissatisfaction with his performance in Memento, Christopher Nolan‘s breakthrough thriller. In the film, he portrays a man suffering from short-term memory loss, determined to uncover the truth behind his wife’s murder. In an interview with The Times, Pearce confessed, “I’m having an existential crisis. I watched Memento the other day and I’m still depressed. I’m s**t in that movie.”
Pearce explained that his negative opinion of his own work is a recent development. “I’d never thought that before, but I did this Q&A of Memento earlier this month and decided to actually watch the film again. But while it was playing I realised I hate what I did.” Reflecting on his acting choices in the 2000 psychological thriller, he elaborated, “I was trying to do a flippant attitude, but it was all wrong.”
He then cited legendary actor John Gielgud’s famous words: “You can be good in a good movie, good in a bad movie, bad in a bad movie, but never be bad in a good movie.” To Pearce’s dismay, he feels he broke that rule. “Yet I watched Memento and realised I’m bad in a good movie. F**k.”
Despite his harsh self-criticism, Pearce acknowledged that he is still proud of some of his past performances. “Look, I’m pleased with L.A. Confidential, but I look at this and go, ‘Oof! Nails on a chalkboard!'” He even compared Memento to his early work on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, quipping, “If I reckon my performance in Neighbours is two out of ten, Memento is a five.”
The actor revealed that he hasn’t discussed his reassessment with Nolan. “No, because I reckon he’d agree with me,” he said. “It’s funny; people say I should’ve been nominated for Memento. Now I understand why I wasn’t.”
Memento was nominated for two Academy Awards—Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing—but lost out to Gosford Park and Black Hawk Down, respectively. Pearce himself only received his first Oscar nomination this year for his supporting role in The Brutalist.
The conversation also allowed him to clarify long-standing speculation about why he never worked with Nolan again. Pearce had previously attributed this to an executive’s lack of enthusiasm for him, but now he has a different explanation. “All this stuff about an exec at Warners being why I’ve not worked with Chris again? It came crashing down,” he admitted. “I know why I didn’t work with Chris again — it’s because I’m no good in Memento.”
Pearce recalled that Nolan did consider him for roles after Memento, including Batman Begins and The Prestige. However, at the time, an executive at Warner Bros. had dismissed him outright. “He spoke to me about roles a few times over the years,” Pearce recently told Vanity Fair. “The first Batman and The Prestige. But there was an executive at Warner Bros. who quite openly said to my agent, ‘I don’t get Guy Pearce. I’m never going to get Guy Pearce. I’m never going to employ Guy Pearce.'”
