Guy Pearce was 'barred' from working with Christopher Nolan by Warner Bros.
Guy Pearce has alleged a Warner Bros. executive prevented him from being cast in any of Christopher Nolan's movies made for the studio.
Pearce earned huge acclaim for his performance in Nolan's breakthrough movie, the memory-twisting Memento, back in 2000 - but has been absent from the director's projects, which until 2023's Oppenheimer were made for Warners.
Asked by Vanity Fair why, unlike other stars who've worked successfully with Nolan, he hadn't reteamed with the filmmaker, the Australian actor revealed that an unnamed executive is to blame.
"He spoke to me about roles a few times over the years," Pearce said. "The first Batman (Begins) 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.'
"So, in a way, that's good to know. I mean, fair enough; there are some actors I don't get. But it meant I could never work with Chris."
Pearce even revealed that Nolan even asked him to fly to the U.K. to read for the role of Ra's al Ghul, a part that eventually went to Liam Neeson, but after the veto remained in place, the Interstellar filmmaker took him out to say sorry.
"They flew me to London to discuss the Liam Neeson role and I think it was decided on my flight that I wasn't going to be in the movie," Pearce remembered. "So I get there and Chris is like 'Hey, you want to see the Batmobile and get dinner?'"
The cast for Nolan's mysterious new movie includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, and Anne Hathaway. With the director having acrimoniously left Warner Bros. over the release of 2020's Tenet - he may be finally in with a chance of joining them.