Guy Pearce is not a fan of his performance in Memento: “I’m s*it”

Memento
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Guy Pearce recently re-watched Christopher Nolan’s Memento, a film he very memorably starred in, and let’s just say he didn’t like what he saw. 


Have you ever found an old video or a photo of yourself and wondered what happened there, how did I let myself get immortalised in a situation like this? Maybe it was a terrible haircut or a really bad outfit, or perhaps an old taping of a school play and your memories of it donā€™t quite match whatā€™s playing on screen.

For Guy Pearce though, that moment came with a rewatch of Memento.

That’s right, Christopher Nolanā€™s breakthrough film, that many of us remember fondly, had Pearce seemingly shuddering with disgust. 

In an interview with The Times (here via Variety), Pearce recounts his experience watching himself as Leonard, a man suffering from amnesia, who uses tattoos ā€“ and other memory aids, including copious post-it notes ā€“ to help him hunt down the killer of his wife.

“I’m having an existential crisis,” Pearce admitted when talking about his recent re-watch. “I watched Memento the other day and I’m still depressed. I’m shit in that movie. 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.”

It couldnā€™t have been that bad, right? After all, the film is beloved by many and received critical acclaim, including for Pearce’s performance. He also received several awards nominations. Having watched that performance again, however, Pearce has walked back on earlier claims that Warner Bros executives blocked him from working with Christopher Nolan again.

“But while it was playing I realised I hate what I did,” he added. “And so all this stuff about an exec at Warners being why I’ve not worked with Chris again? It came crashing down. I know why I didn’t work with Chris again — it’s because I’m no good in Memento.”

We doubt that’s why Nolan has never worked with Pearce again, but there’s still time. Especially as it seems everyone and their dog are due to star in Nolan’s The Odyssey. The latest recruits include Himesh Patel and Samantha Morton. The already larger than life cast also includes Tom Holland, Elliott Page, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya and many, many more. 

Pearce is currently in the running for Best Supporting Actor at this year’s Oscars for his performance in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, which we liked very much. Those awards will be handed out on the 2nd March. In the meantime, can someone give Pearce a comforting hug?

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