Guy Pearce calls Kevin Spacey ‘handsy’ in resurfaced interview

Guy Pearce described Kevin Spacey as “handsy” and “difficult” in an interview that’s resurfaced in the wake of his recent allegations.

Guy Pearce described actor Kevin Spacey as “handsy” and “difficult” in a 2018 interview that’s resurfaced in the wake of his recent allegations against the scandal-plagued Oscar-winner.

Pearce made headlines earlier this week when he claimed during an emotional podcast interview that Spacey had harassed him for months while they were filming the 1997 retro-noir thriller LA Confidential.

But Spacey hit back at those claims in an extraordinary video posted to social media, telling his former co-star: “You need to grow up. You are not a victim.”

The actor, who came out as gay in 2017 amid a slew of allegations of unwanted sexual advances from men, also appeared to accuse Pearce of “leading [him] on” during their time working together.

Now, comments Pearce made about Spacey to TV host Andrew Denton in a 2018 episode of the chat show Interview are being recirculated online.

In the segment, Denton ran Pearce through a handful of his famous co-stars and asked for his thoughts on each.

While Pearce showered his Mildred Pierce co-star Kate Winslet with praise, he couldn’t hide his distaste when Spacey’s name was raised.

“Tough one to talk about. Yeah. Amazing actor. Yeah. Incredible actor. Slightly difficult time with Kevin,” he said, appearing to choose his words carefully.

“He’s a handsy guy,” he continued, which elicited a shocked reaction from the studio audience. “Thankfully I was 29 and not 14.”

Pearce (left) and Spacey on the set of LA Confidential.

Pressed to then give his opinion on another co-star, Kylie Minogue, Pearce joked that she was “not as handsy as I’d like her to be.”

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast this week, Pearce claimed that Spacey had targeted him with inappropriate behaviour during their time working together.

Pearce, 57, claimed that the only days he felt “safe” on set where when fellow Aussie actor Simon Baker was present: “[Kevin] focuses on [Simon] because he was 10 times prettier than I am.”

“He targeted me, no question,” an audibly emotional Pearce claimed, revealing that years later he broke down sobbing when he saw that Spacey, 65, had been accused of unwanted sexual advances by other men.

Spacey unleashed on Pearce in this video, telling his former co-star: “You are not a victim.”

But Spacey addressed his former co-star directly in a furious video statement posted to X.

He accused Pearce of painting a “victim narrative” and questioned why he hadn’t come forward sooner.

Spacey also appeared to make the extraordinary allegation that Pearce, who married his ex-wife and high school sweetheart Kate Mestitz in 1997, may have been “leading him on” during their time spent working together.

“I apologise that I didn’t get the message that you don’t like spending time with me. I mean, maybe there was another reason. I don’t know. But that doesn’t make any sense that you would have just been leading me on, right?” he said.

Spacey finished his statement by mocking Pearce for voicing his allegations now, almost 30 years after the alleged incidents had taken place.

“Here you are now on a mission some 28 years later, after I’d been through hell and back to do what? Just in time to stop the bad guy, huh? Is that what’s going on here? What took you so long? Did your horse run out of gas? I mean, you want to have a conversation? I’m happy to do so. Any time, any place. We can even do it here, live on X if you like. I’ve got nothing to hide. But, Guy, you need to grow up. You are not a victim.”

Spacey, who came out as gay in 2017 when the first of the allegations against him surfaced, has either been acquitted or has had charges dropped in all sexual misconduct cases against him.

Originally published as Guy Pearce calls Kevin Spacey ‘handsy’ in resurfaced interview