‘I need Luigi Mangione to take care of that executive asap’: Guy Pearce reveals the shocking reason he never worked with Christopher Nolan again

Previously, Pearce and Nolan teamed up for 2000’s Memento. The neo-noir thriller, which is based on a short story written by Nolan’s brother Jonathan, captivated the world and turned the entertainment industry onto Nolan’s talents as an filmmaker. Five years later, the director tackled Batman Begins and his career’s trajectory shot straight to the stars.

At the time of Memento‘s release, Guy Pearce was no newcomer to the movie scene. He’d already caught the attention in films such as The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and L.A. Confidential, with Memento only solidifying his status as one of the best actors of his generation. His career didn’t stall there either, as he went on to appear in everything from Prometheus and Iron Man 3. Strangely, Pearce and Nolan never worked together again after Memento. Considering how the British-born filmmaker tends to cast the same group of actors across multiple projects, this raised eyebrows. Was there perhaps behind-the-scenes tension between Nolan and Pearce on Memento‘s set?

As it turns out, no. Pearce sat down with Vanity Fair and revealed he was in the running to play Ra’s al Ghul in Batman Begins and Nolan wanted him for The Prestige too. He said:

“There was an executive at Warner Bros. who quite openly said to my agent, ‘I don’t get Guy Pearce. I’m never going to get Guy Pearce. I’m never going to employ Guy Pearce.’ So, in a way, that’s good to know. I mean, fair enough; there are some actors I don’t get. But it meant I could never work with Chris.”

Pearce explained how he was flown over to London, England to discuss the role of Ra’s al Ghul, but when he arrived, it had already been decided he wasn’t going to be in the movie. The part went to Liam Neeson. Instead, Pearce ended up going for dinner with Nolan, who also offered to show him the Batmobile.

Expectedly, the internet is shook by the news. One commentator on X wrote, “I need Luigi Mangione to take care of that executive asap.” Others couldn’t believe that Warner Bros. would be that shortsighted about Pearce’s talents. Of course, there was the odd lickspittle or two in the comments who decided to stand up for Warner Bros. and be a good little studio bot.

Pearce’s revelation showcases the wild nature of Hollywood, though. Often, all it takes is one narrow-minded studio executive to take a dislike to an actor and it is curtains for them. Pearce could have played a major part in the Nolanverse and countless other Nolan films such as Inception, Interstellar, and The Prestige, but someone with terrible taste in actors prevented it. This coming from the same studio that cast Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice a few years later.

That said, there’s hope on the horizon that Guy Pearce and Christopher Nolan could team up again in the near future. Since Nolan’s no longer exclusive to Warner Bros., it’s possible that the pair could work on something else again – unless some other brain-rotted studio executive decides to interfere there as well.