Guy Pearce

Guy Pearce

Guy Pearce portrayed Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3.

Significant roles

• Mike Young in Neighbours (1986-1989)
• David Croft in Home and Away (1991)
• Adam Whitley/Felicia Jollygoodfellow in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
• Rob McGregor in Snowy River: The McGregor Saga (1994-1996)
• Errol Flynn in Flynn (1997)
• Edmund J. Exley in L.A. Confidential (1997)
• Capt. John Boyd in Ravenous (1999)
• Maj. Mark Biggs in Rulse of Engagement (2000)
• Leonard Shelby in Memento (2000)
• Fernard Mondego in Montecristo (2002)
• Alexander Hartdegen in The Time Machine (2002)
• Charle Burns in The Proposition (2005)
• Jimmy Starks in First Snow (2006)
• Andy Warhol in Factory Girl (2006)
• Harry Houdini in Death Defying Acts (2007)
• Dr. Bruce Laraby in Winged Creatures (2008)
• Roy Clayton in Traitor (2008)
• Staff Sgt. Matt Thompson in The Hurt Locker (2008)
• Kendall in Bedtime Stories (2008)
• Veteran in The Road (2009)
• King Edward VIII in The King's Speach (2010)
• Alex in Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010)
• Monty Beragon in Mildred Pierce (2011)
• Simon in Seeking Justice (2011)
• Snow in Lockout (2012)
• Special Agent Charlie Rakes in Lawless (2012)
• Peter Weyland in Prometheus (2012)

Quotes

• "All I’m going to tell you, because I never talk about anything before I do it, is that I start in a couple of weeks, I’m sorry, but that’s all I’m going to say."
• “The thing about Daredevil was that it was the role of Daredevil [that I didn't want to do]. Certainly in those days ... it was ten years ago. I've probably loosened up, and I feel a little more experimental in what I'll take on these days, but I still don't know that I would want to play the superhero myself, since I'm playing a different kind of character in this film. And I think that, based on the first two movies, there's a great chemistry between Robert [Downey Jr.] and Gwyneth [Paltrow], and I just think the films have a fun, joyful sort of quality about them. I've just enjoyed them. So I just felt like I wanted to be a part of this."
• "The main difference [from filming big tentpoles] was that, when I did The Time Machine, I was pretty much in all of it, so it was a really grueling experience. Prometheus and Iron Man are really kind of cameo stuff, so the experience of shooting them ... I mean, on some level, it's tricky because you feel like a bit of an outsider. You don’t really live the experience that you do when you're there all day every day with everybody. But at the same time, it can be more fun sometimes because you're just working in concentrated spurts.”
• "Killian is an interesting character as he’s somebody who came into this world with a number of physical disabilities. He’s never been able to accept those limitations though and has spent most of his life trying to overcome them in any way he can. His tenacity and blind determination in fighting for a better life are seen by some as irritating, as he often comes across as obnoxious. He just won’t accept the cards he was dealt, and being as intelligent as he is, has real drive to change and become a different person. So we find him at the start of the film in a flashback and we see the ambitious, almost annoying, guy that he is. He takes opportunities to try and latch onto people like Tony Stark. So you see this very ambitious character and you see him later on in the film having made a change, and Tony and the other people that have met him early on kind of go, “How did this happen? How did he do this?” But he’s a dangerous character. He wants to become all-powerful. That’s sort of a driving force with him and Tony Stark realizes eventually what this guy is capable of."
• "When Killian started his organization A.I.M., however many years ago, Pepper was somebody whom he employed to work there. Obviously, from the outset he was very keen on her. She’s smart, she’s attractive, she’s a great girl. But Killian was someone that she was never interested in. When we meet Killian early on in the film, everything about him is unappealing on some kind of level and she always kept him at arm’s length. Then years later when he goes to her to basically look for funding and to get her involved again, she’s completely taken aback by how charming he is and how wonderful he now looks, plus his attitude’s changed. So she is kind of taken by him; she doesn’t quite know what’s happening to her and her reaction to him. And obviously, she and Tony Stark have a relationship, so this causes a little rift between those two."
• "I didn’t really do a lot of training. I’m generally pretty fit most of the time anyway and I like to be in control of the stunts that I’m doing. In the fight sequence between Robert and me, we’re sort of leaping off an oil rig out in the sea. There was a lot of leaping off higher platforms onto lower platforms, which is dangerous stuff but there were specialists around making sure we didn’t get injured. There’s also a lot of wirework where we’re wearing harnesses. I’d done a bit of wirework before on other films but you always need to go and have sort of a refresher course when you start another film."
• "I think the way Extremis works through people’s bodies. Often the visual effects guys would say, “At this moment, we’re going to see pulsing veins up your neck and we’re going to see that your eyes are going to sort of glow orange.” So, they had a few different ideas about how that was going to go and they were obviously very excited about pushing the envelope and doing things they haven’t done before."
• "The second-to-last draft, before we started filming, there was still this idea that Pepper ended up having sex with Killian, and then he broadcast the sex tape in Home Depot. Oddly, Marvel, not so keen."
• "I think there's definitely evidence in the Marvel Universe the Ten Rings are a real organization that were co-opted by Killian. What that means is out there, and whether Trevor has anything to do with that, we may never know. Or maybe we will."
• "Personally, I loved it, and I was never a comic book fan growing up, so I have no attachment to the Mandarin. I mean, I get it. The loyalty to those characters, I totally get it, but based on the sort of single-entity movie -- and particularly based on Ben Kingsley's performance -- I just adored what that turned into. But I do certainly understand that some die hard fans kind of went, 'Aww... Come on!' [Laughs]"