Kevin Spacey responds to Guy Pearce’s allegations that he was ‘targeted’ on the set of L.A. Confidential

In typical pugilistic style, Kevin Spacey has lashed out at Guy Pearce after the Australian actor revealed Spacey had “targeted him” on the set of 1997 film L.A. Confidential.

Pearce had appeared on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast to promote his role in The Brutalist and the conversation veered into his experience working with Spacey.

He alleged Spacey made advances towards him behind the scenes but he initially brushed it off.

“Ah, that’s nothing, ah, no, that’s nothing,” Pearce said. “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, he holds a room remarkably well. But I was young and susceptible, and he targeted me, no question.”

Pearce added that at the time, he had told his then-wife, Kate, “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) focused on (Simon) because he was 10 times prettier than me.”

Pearce recalled that he didn’t process his interactions with Spacey until decades later when in 2017 actor Anthony Rapp went public with allegations that Spacey had made sexual advances against him in 1986 when Rapp was 14 years old.

“I was in London working on something, and I heard (about the accusations) 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.”

Spacey denied Rapp’s accusations and successfully defended a lawsuit brought by Rapp in 2022. Spacey was also acquitted of charges against him in a British sexual assault case in 2023, arising from separate accusations of sexual misconduct.

Pearce had in 2018 told Andrew Denton on his show Interview that Spacey had been “handsy”.

Overnight, Spacey hit back. In a public video posted to social media, Spacey directly addressed Pearce.

“We worked together a long time ago,” he said. “If I did something then that upset you, you could have reached out to me. We could have had that conversation, but instead, you’ve decided to speak to the press, who are now, of course, coming after me, because they would like to know what my response is to the things that you said.

“You really want to know what my response is? Grow up.”

Spacey went on to claim that Pearce had, the year following the L.A. Confidential production, flown to the US state of Georgia to spend time together while Spacey was filming the film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

In the original Hollywood Reporter interview, Pearce said that he “had a couple of confrontations with Kevin” that were “ugly”.

Spacey, though, threw down the gauntlet and invited Pearce to have it out with him, “any time, any place”.

Pearce is nominated for an Oscar for The Brutalist for his performance as a wealthy industrialist who becomes a controlling patron to Adrien Brody’s character, a Holocaust survivor and architect.

In the past year, he was also in David Cronenberg’s most recent film, The Shrouds, and Australian prison drama Inside. He has finished filming on two other films, supernatural thriller Killing Faith, and The Woman in Cabin 10, a high-profile adaptation of Ruth Ware’s bestselling novel.

Spacey has not had a substantial role on screen since the MeToo allegations against him. He’s starred in two Italian movies and had a voice role in a British thriller called Control.