Guy Pearce claims Kevin Spacey 'targeted' him
Guy Pearce has claimed he was "targeted" by Kevin Spacey on the set of 'L.A. Confidential' and he only felt "safe" on set when a "prettier" co-star was filming too.
Guy Pearce has claimed he was "targeted" by Kevin Spacey.
The 'Brutalist' actor previously declared the former 'House of Cards' star - whose career went into freefall after he was accused of sexual misconduct by a number of men - was "handsy" when they worked together on 1997's 'L.A. Confidential' and though he later stressed he "wasn't sexually assaulted or molested", he's now told how he was "sort of scared" of Spacey and was a "victim" on some ways.
Explaining his reluctance to describe himself as a victim, he told the Hollywood Reporter's 'Awards Chatter'podcast: "Even though I probably was a victim to a degree; I was certainly not a victim by any means to the extent that other people have been to sexual predators.”
He recalled initially brushing off Spacey's alleged advances as "nothing".
He added: “I did that for five months, and really I was sort of scared of Kevin because he’s quite an aggressive man. He’s extremely charming and brilliant at what he does — really impressive, etc. He holds a room remarkably. But I was young and susceptible, and he targeted me, no question.”
The 57-year-old actor was with then-wife Kate Mestitz filming the movie in Los Angeles and recalled telling her he only felt "safe" if a "prettier" co-star was on set too.
He told her: "The only days I feel safe are the days when [Simon Baker] is on set because I’m dumped like a hot potato, and [Kevin] focuses on [Simon] because he was ten times prettier than I am.”
Despite brushing off the alleged incident at the time, in 2017, when Anthony Rapp came forward to accuse Spacey of making sexual advances towards him when he was just 14, prompting a flood of further allegations, Guy "broke down and sobbed" when he realised how much he had been affected.
He said: “I was in London working on something, and I heard [the reports] and I broke down and sobbed, and I couldn’t stop. I think it really dawned on me the impact that had occurred and how I sort of brushed it off and how I had either shelved it or blocked it out or whatever. That was a really incredible wake up call."
The former 'Neighbours' actor admitted he has since “had a couple of confrontations with Kevin” that “got ugly" but didn't share any details.
Spacey has denied allegations of misconduct and acquitted of all of the nine sexual assault charges he faced in the UK in 2023.
