Guy Pearce ‘Wanted to Punch’ Costar for Neighbours Insult

Guy Pearce has admitted he “wanted to punch” a former costar who once made “snobby” comments about his past work in Australian soap opera Neighbours.

“I did a play a year after I left [Neighbours] and this snobby actress said, ‘How could you even do that?’ I wanted to punch her! Now, obviously, I didn’t punch her,” he told The Times.

Pearce, 57, was an early cast member on Australia’s long-running soap between 1986 and 1989, where he played heartthrob Mike Young alongside future pop icon Kylie Minogue.

The Academy Award-nominated actor noted how working in soaps was “frowned upon” in the 1980s, though Neighbours, in particular, became a training ground for stars such as Margot Robbie, Chris Hemsworth and Russell Crowe, among many others.

Pearce recalled that he ultimately had the last laugh on the “snobby” co-star who’d mocked his soap opera background.

“It was such a horrible attitude. And then, five years later, I saw her on some s— ad on TV. I so wanted to go and find her and say, ‘OK…’” he remembered.

While Pearce has gone on to Hollywood success and critical acclaim, he said he still feels “lucky” to have landed a spot on Neighbours as a young actor.

“I have many feelings about that show,” Pearce acknowledged. “In the old days, you were either a theater actor or a film actor, and if you got stuck in a soap you were the lowest of the low, but what an opportunity! I had no clue what I was doing but learnt a lot. When young actors ask me for advice, I shrug and say, ‘Get lucky?’ Because I got lucky.”

Pearce holds his early success on Neighbours in such high regard that he even agreed to return in 2022 for what was originally billed as the soap’s last episode. Neighbours was ultimately revived by Amazon, leading Pearce to make another brief cameo to wrap up his character Mike Young’s storyline in 2024.

The actor recently made headlines when Game of Thrones star Carice van Houten revealed for the first time that they’d split, adding that they’d not actually been together “for years.” The couple had one son together.

Van Houten’s announcement came on the heels of Pearce admitting in an interview with The Guardian that ex-wife Kate Mestitz was “the greatest love” of his life.

“I’ve moved on from her now and the greatest love of my life is my child, Monte,” he clarified.

Pearce later confessed that his biggest disappointment in life was that he’d “messed up [his] marriage” to Mestitz, who he wed in 1997 after being childhood sweethearts.

“I don’t feel that way any more, but at the time [of the split in 2015], I was devastated,” he said.

Pearce is in the midst of a career high point, as he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in gripping drama The Brutalist. He has a nomination pending from the BAFTA Film Awards, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award this year as well.