Aussie actor Guy Pearce claims he ‘wanted to punch’ co-star

“Horrible”: Oscar-nominated actor Guy Pearce has revealed the unpleasant exchange with a co-star that left him fuming.

Guy Pearce has jokingly admitted he “wanted to punch” a “snobby” actress who judged him for getting his start on Neighbours.

The Aussie actor, 57, became a household name locally in the 1980s after landing the role of Mike Young on the beloved soap opera. Like it did for Margot Robbie, Kylie Minogue, and Russell Crowe, the show wound up launching his Hollywood career, as he went on to star in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, LA Confidential, Memento, The Hurt Locker and The King’s Speech.

But Pearce, who is nominated for an Oscar at next month’s ceremony, told The Times recently that not everyone was impressed by his acting origin story.

“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,” he told the publication.

“Now, obviously, I didn’t punch her. But it was such a horrible attitude.”

Pearce added: “Five years later I saw her on some s**t ad on TV. I so wanted to go and find her and say, ‘Okay …’

Pearce (second from right) reprised his role on the soap for the original series’ finale in 2022. Picture: Ten

Despite Neighbours’ popularity at the time in the UK, he admitted that appearing on it “was really frowned upon” within the industry.

“In the old days you were either a theatre actor or a film actor, and if you got stuck in a soap you were the lowest of the low — but what an opportunity.”

So fond of his time on the show, Pearce even returned to reprise his role for the star-studded finale of the original series in 2022, and later in its comeback between 2023 and 2024.

Pearce has just received his first ever Academy Award nod, vying for a coveted prize in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in post-World War Two drama The Brutalist.

The Aussie star is up against Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown and Yura Borisov for Anora.

The Aussie actor is nominated for his first ever Oscar. Picture: Gilbert Flores/GG2025/Penske Media via Getty Images

It comes just a week after it emerged he’d split from Carice van Houten. Picture: Twitter/Guy Pearce

Last month, it emerged that Pearce had quietly split from Game of Thrones actress Carice van Houten “years” ago.

Rumours about the status of the couple – who share a child – began swirling in December when Pearce described his ex-wife, Kate Mestitz, as the “greatest love” of his life in an interview with The Guardian, with no mention of van Houten.

The Dutch actress later confirmed they had broken up in a post on social media.

“I don’t usually engage in discussions about my personal life, but because of a number of conclusions in the media last week regarding my relationship with Guy, I wanted to make something clear,” she wrote on her Instagram Story underneath a photo of the pair.

“He and I are great friends and love each other very much, but we haven’t been a ‘couple’ for years.

“I am, however, very proud to say we are in a wonderful partnership raising the true love of our lives – our beautiful son. And his hamster. The end.”

The pair started dating just months after Pearce split from his ex-wide Kate Mestitz in 2015.

They went on to have a son together named Monte, who was born in 2016.

Originally published as Aussie actor Guy Pearce claims he ‘wanted to punch’ co-star