Guy Pearce Stayed Away from Studio Movies Because ‘You Just Get Told What to Do’ by Execs ‘Afraid to Lose Their Jobs’: ‘That’s a Killer for Me’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director One look at Guy Pearce‘s filmography and it’s clear the actor has largely stayed away from big Hollywood studio fare over the years.

One would have to go all the way back to 2013’s Marvel movie “Iron Man 3” to find Pearce’s last sizable role in a studio tentpole, although he did have smaller appearances in “Prometheus” and “Bloodshot.” Pearce has stayed busy over the years with indie dramas and international fare, which he recently told GQ magazine was somewhat of a reaction to the bad experiences he had with a few studio films.

After the success of “Memento,” Hollywood tried and failed to mold Pearce into a studio leading man with projects like 2002’s “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Time Machine.” The latter film, loosely based on H.

G. Wells’ novel of the same name, was a notorious critical flop and a pain for Pearce to make. “The process of it felt way too big for me,” Pearce told GQ. “I can’t make [sense of] this idea of studio films where you just get told what to do by people afraid to lose their jobs.