Guy Pearce quotes:

The thrill of coming home has never changed.

Funny enough, if you are looking at people these days who are putting Botox in their face and getting all sorts of plastic surgery, we look at them and go, I can tell you've had Botox. I can tell you've had plastic surgery. You look really strange to me. But no one's saying anything. We're just accepting the fact that they're strange-looking.

I tend to project my father figure onto any director that I'm working with, or mother, if I'm working with a female, or it can be confused.

My problem is I'm an addictive personality. I can't have one coffee. I can't eat one piece of chocolate.

I always think the really unfortunate thing about the Australian film industry is its lack of momentum. And I don't mean this in a derogatory way. I'm always wanting it to pick up momentum, and I'm wondering if that's even possible.

I always look at films as real stories with real people in real situations. That's why I struggle with the whole notion of calling someone the 'good guy' or the 'bad guy', because I think we all have potential to do good things and all have the potential to do bad things.

Comic-strip stuff isn't really my cup of tea, really.

I wish I had the ability to crack wise, generally. You know, without getting punched. There's no way I could do it while getting beaten up. Definitely.

I used to work out in the gym a lot when I was younger. I was a competition body builder when I was 16 or something crazy like that for a short period of time. So, the gym is quite familiar and I know what I'm doing there.

I think when people are repressing things, or burying things, that can manifest in all sorts of ways.

Having a partner who has nothing to do with Hollywood helps keep things in perspective.

You would think that with ten super-famous people in one movie, it's gonna be ten times more popular or viewed, but on some level, they can cancel each other out.

I don't feel I'm making a conscious effort to go more commercial.

Every time you say yes to a film there's a certain percentage of your yes that has to do with the director, a certain percentage to do with the story, a certain percentage with the character, the location, etc.

The thing I've come to learn is that what's great about small independent films is the intimacy and the communication that occurs when you're making them.

I don't understand the actor who plays the same role from movie to movie. Maybe it's because I worked on long-running television when I was in my teens, and so the idea of playing the same role just bores me intensely. I'd rather not do it at all.

I'm happy in a silent world - well, not a silent world but one that relies on - I'm in a pretty physical actor I suppose anyway, and I just don't - I don't struggle that idea of emotional expression just because there aren't words to explain yourself.

There's many more films being made in America than there are in Australia. You make four hundred and fifty films a year, we make twenty-five.

I don't have many friends.

When I go to a movie, I'm always thrilled if I've seen an actor do something and I didn't realize until the end of the movie that that was that person. I love that.

A movie that gets a PG-13 rating can show someone running down a street killing 27 people. And there are no repercussions.

I find it really difficult to even articulate things that I've done in the past. I express myself through the characters that I play, not through the articulation of them later.

I always look at films as real stories with real people in real situations. That's why I struggle with the whole notion of calling someone the 'good guy' or the 'bad guy,' because I think we all have potential to do good things and all have the potential to do bad things.

I feel I do my best work when it's all there on the page, and I feel that the character is very vivid as I read the script and I'm not having to create stuff and trying to cobble together something. If I have to do that, then I don't entirely trust what I'm doing.

I don't enjoy movies in 3D. I find I can't engage with the story as well.

The reality is that we have all these awards and all these festivals that give out awards, so you sort of go, 'okay, well, people liked the film, and I think it's a good film, and it's up for an award - well, I guess it should win the award then.'

I think a lot of actors take on fun roles and then they're lazy or flippant with them. I just can't do that.

Doing that hunt scene was really quite demanding. I actually broke a rib during that scene. And then all the scenes after that became quite challenging, just breathing and laughing.

Memory isn't the facts, it's just a record you keep to yourself. With the facts, memory is useless.

The funny thing is, because I was doing a lot of theater when I was a kid, and a lot of that was musical theater, as I got older I became more interested in acting as a separate entity and music as a separate entity, like songwriting and production and recording and playing music.

I'm definitely not non-chalant. I have to leave nonchalant at home when I'm working on something, otherwise I just don't feel like I'm committed, and I've gotta be fully committed.

I grew up doing musicals. I've done so many musicals in my life, I kind of got them out of my system. But, I certainly would be open to them. Rocky Horror Show is a big favorite of mine.

I'll generally write out every scene that's in the film on a couple of pieces of paper, just with a little one-line. And then I can scan it a bit and go, 'This first third of the film, generally, I'm kind of calm.' Then I might do something on one piece of paper that just relates to the energy of the character.

It's hard to pinpoint why all of a sudden a group of Australian films will be doing well and why they perhaps are better made than some from the past.

I grew up with such an affinity to cats. I adore the way that they think and operate.

I'm never there enough to really keep up with what's going on in the Australian film industry. I just try and be part of it as much as I can.

You never say never, but I don't think I'd want to do a long-running series.

The movie industry is very competitive, and if you're like me and you suffer from your own insecurities about whether or not you're any good, that can be troubling.

I'm interested in the psychological exploration of human nature, and it just happens to come in the form of film-making.

I am geared towards communicating on a female level.

You work on things and you have such faith in them while you're making them that everything feels special - in a way.

A lot of people are going to hate me for saying this, but one of my least favorite kinds of music, or the kind of music that I feel I've so got out of my system, is musicals music.

Working on films where the money's more important than the creativity, I just get a bit freaked out by that. I just don't feel comfortable.

The majority of people who join law enforcement are doing it for good, moral reasons, but then there are the few who get through, where you go, 'Whoa, hold on a second. What's this guy doing here?'

A lot of action characters are a little bit too serious as well. They take themselves a bit too seriously, which I don't find particularly interesting, whereas I like the fact that there was at least some humor in this because really it's a piece of entertainment.

Australia's not so bad with me, really, people are pretty cool with me at home, but in England it feels a little bit scary.

Because in Australia we're so inundated with American culture, television, this that and the other, everyone in Australia can do an American accent. It's just second nature.

Choosing work is an interesting thing. It's a balance between what's available and what you've always got in the back of your mind - that awful, strange thing that seems to have to exist in this industry, of what will give you "exposure."

English is no problem for me because I am actually English. My whole family are English; I was brought up listening to various forms of the English accent.

Even though I've done a lot it also feels like I haven't done a lot. I've sort of popped in for supporting roles in things, and that's been really delightful.

Every time you say yes to a film there's a certain percentage of your yes that has to do with the director, a certain percentage to do with the story, a certain percentage with the character, the location, etc...

Growing up, I was a kid pretending to be an adult.

I can be completely indulgent and spend as many hours and days or weeks as I like on one thing. Writing music and sitting in my studio, just pottering with ideas, it's a lot more personal and creative for me, I don't feel restricted.

I can be fairly optimistic, but I'm probably more a realist, I think. I mean, optimism's an interesting quality, isn't it, because I'm always slightly dubious as to what's behind it?

I didn't know what the path was that I wanted to be as an actor, to be honest. I've been doing a lot of theater since I was a kid, so I was just sort of taking opportunities.

I do have aspirations when it comes to directing, I suppose, but in a sort of a vague way. It would probably come about if I found a project that I really felt passionate about.

I do like a variety of things so I'm always interested in finding something that I haven't done before, if possible, to whatever degree that sometimes changes, and how much is something now that I wouldn't have a year ago but sort of based on what I've done recently as well.

I do like a variety of things so I'm always interested in finding something that I haven't done before.

I don't believe in God, but the thing I do believe in is that we're all connected.

I don't understand the actor that chooses to play the same role in everything all the time.

I don't want to make a habit of just playing small roles, because I really enjoy the process of being part of a film and staying on it for the length of time that everybody else is as well.

I had to put the word out to people that I didn't cost a fortune, and I was prepared to work at home. Because that's the assumption: "Well, he lives in America now, we can't afford him, we won't bother."

I have a real love of sound and the shape of the sound. I'm a musician, and I'm fascinated with the effects of sound, and tone, and pitch and melody and all that sort of stuff.

I just can't talk about things before I do them, because just for me... I give energy away before I've put energy into the job.

I never really enjoyed the fame stuff.

I really enjoy a variety of different work, and what I've just done may sometimes determine what I choose to do next.

I really enjoy doing things that are more subtle and close to home - and literally close to home.

I reckon it's more of an external perspective that on some level you really can control and dictate how your career's going to go.

I suffer from overheating quite easily.

I think as an actor, or any artist, you move with your moods and you express what's going on for you, and you answer to that voice within that's calling for particular things.

I think that you can say something in one line with a look that you might need three lines on a page for normally.

I want to bring something different to every film. I get a bit tired of actors who kind of are the same character in every film that they do.

I went through a period where I just wanted to punch everybody. Since then, I've had a lot of therapy and I've figured a lot of things out.

If I'm exhausted, physically and particularly emotionally, I can't tell what's good and I can't tell what's bad and I'm useless.

If it's a great role or a great film, then you're happy to be a part of it.

If something doesn't come out of your mouth right, you've got to acknowledge the fact that you're trying to deliver an honest performance. If it doesn't' come out of your mouth correctly, then it's not going to work.

If you look at the films that I've done generally, you would probably get an idea of what I'm most interested in, and if ever I do something unusual like a science fiction film or an action film or a comedy or something, then that to me feels like a step to the side to do something different.

I'll have a different answer tomorrow that I do today.

I'm a musician, and I'm fascinated with the effects of sound, and tone, and pitch and melody and all that sort of stuff. It's the first thing I have to solidify whenever...I get into a character. The first thing I need to get sorted out before I can then move forward, before I can feel any confidence whatsoever, is the voice.

I'm able to lead my life as well as make a film. My wife and my friends and people around me know that I do tend to distance myself a little bit during the making of a film, but I have to, it's a natural part of the process for me because you are indulging in the headspace of somebody else, you are investing in the psychology of somebody else and you are becoming somebody else, and so there isn't enough room for you and that somebody else.

I'm constantly trying to be as original as I can.

I'm far more comfortable in my 40s than I ever was.

It's funny, though, with films, because you can incorporate a variety of elements, and sometimes that can work for you and sometimes I think it can work against you.

It's interesting playing something that the audience doesn't fully know.

It's really interesting making films and actually seeing the life that they have in the subsequent years and seeing which ones stand up over time and which ones sort of fade away.

I've been asked to do action-oriented movies in the past and they just haven't been right for me.

I've done roles before where I've wanted to be buff and sort of fit or whatever. And I like to try and be a little bit fit because there's usually one scene in a movie where you've got to run, which means you've got to run for about five hours nonstop. So, for me, it's just worthwhile being fit because doing a movie can be kind of grueling for six, seven, eight weeks. Or 12 weeks.

I've learned from the past that it's important to recharge and get time in-between jobs, and if I can't get time in-between jobs then when I know I've got some time coming up at the end of a job, really try and take advantage of that. And do very mundane things at home and putter in the garden and spend time with family and make music and, you know, play with the dogs. Just get back to being me.

I've not often been a man of many words. I've never considered myself to be overly articulate. I do feel more comfortable acting something out than I do explaining something or whatever.

Just because there are things I don't remember, doesn't mean my actions are meaningless. The whole world doesn't just disappear when you close your eyes, does it?

Most of the time when I'm in Australia I'm not really working, it seems. I'm just at home, getting on with renovating my house or writing music or whatever. So I get back to doing all the stuff that I naturally do. Whereas if I'm away working, that's all there is to do, is to concentrate on the work.

Sometimes I'll go for something more because of the story, or more because of the director. But, generally, I have to feel like it's something that I have a real sympathy for - a person that I can completely go, "Oh, wow, oh, I'm there." Otherwise I don't feel like I will be able to pull it off at all. I know I haven't done everything very well in the past; some things have worked and some things haven't. But I need to feel like I can feel about the person, understand that person, I suppose.

The first thing I need to get sorted out before I can then move forward, before I can feel any confidence whatsoever, is the voice.

The world doesn't just disappear when you close your eyes, does it?

There's a sense of humor within the Australian culture that prevails when one is in a rather difficult situation.

There's something about the American sensibility that kind of hails people in the public eye. You have a star system. You have that kind of thing where you say, "Good on you for doing that."

To work in America or other places is more about curiosity, because I'm dealing with cultures and sensibilities that I don't really know. So I'm having to sort of investigate them, which I'm fascinated in, but it comes from a place of curiosity rather than a real need to get something out of my system.

Ultimately the most challenging thing, always, is to just be convincing

Well, English is no problem for me because I am actually English. My whole family are English; I was brought up listening to various forms of the English accent. Obviously there are more specific ones that get a little bit tricky. Same with American stuff. But because in Australia we're so inundated with American culture, television, this that and the other, everyone in Australia can do an American accent. It's just second nature.

When I read something, I want to be surprised. So I read something and go, "Wow, I never, ever would have thought of playing this kind of role. This is exciting me, let's go do this."

When you've had a relationship with anybody in your life and you both know what that relationship is, you don't have to do anything to prove to anybody that you've had that relationship. It just exists.

Working on a studio picture, I can't help but be aware of all the political stuff that's going on. I have to work to be able to survive, in a sense.

You can have a great time on a film and the chemistry can seem great but then you look at the finished film and it just doesn't quite gel, something doesn't quite work.

You do feel kind of nervous about any film you take on.

You meet these people who are confident all the time. They annoy me. And I wonder if it's because I'm envious or if it's because they're shallow.

You never really know what the director has got in his mind as far as the scene visually and art direction wise.

You never really know what the director has got in his mind as far as the scene visually and art direction wise, etc. Even if you do, sometimes there's a side of things that don't necessarily gel the way people intend. So there's a bit of a mystical entity [in every] film.