Guy Pearce felt 'targeted' by Kevin Spacey filming L.A. Confidential

Academy Award nominee Guy Pearce, the star of The Brutalist, has opened up about what he calls an "uncomfortable" situation with fellow actor Kevin Spacey while filming the 1997 film L.A. Confidential.

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Pearce first spoke about his encounters with Spacey — calling him a "handsy guy" — during an interview from 2018. He later released a statement that read, "I very much understand that it’s too sensitive a topic to be brushed off. Although I wasn’t sexually assaulted or molested, I was made to feel uncomfortable. I addressed and handled the situation when it took place, hence my regret at making it public now."

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pearce explained that he's still reluctant to call himself a 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."

Pearce claimed that, while on set, he would brush off Spacey's alleged advances and think, "Ah, that's nothing. Ah, no, that's nothing."

"I did that for five months, and really I was sort of scared of Kevin because he's quite an aggressive man," Pearce continued. "He's extremely charming and brilliant at what he does – really impressive, etc. He holds a room remarkably. But I was young and susceptible, and he targeted me, no question."

He recalls telling his then-wife Kate, "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 ten times prettier than I am."

Still, Pearce said that he "had a couple of confrontations with Kevin" that "got ugly."

Fellow actor Anthony Rapp also accused Spacey of making sexual advances on him at a party in 1986 when Rapp was allegedly just 14 years old. However, when Rapp sued, Spacey was found not liable.

Other actors also accused Spacey of inappropriate sexual behavior that took place while they were younger. Nonetheless, Spacey was acquitted of all nine charges of sexual assault by a British jury in 2023 and has continued to deny the claims.

When the news of Spacey's other accusations broke, it had a huge impact on Pearce.

“I was in London working on something, and I heard [the reports] and I broke down and sobbed, and I couldn’t stop," he said. "I think it really dawned on me the impact that had occurred and how I sort of brushed it off and how I had either shelved it or blocked it out or whatever. That was a really incredible wake up call."

Pearce added, "I don't want him to get away with what he gets away with," and "I just try to be more honest about it now and call it for what it is."