Calgary Sun, 19 March 2001

Method acting
By LOUIS B. HOBSON

HOLLYWOOD -- Aussie actor Guy Pearce is the star of the new thriller Memento, playing a man who has amnesia, which opens next month.

Pearce says he got into acting almost out of necessity.

"My father was a pilot who died in a plane crash when I was eight. I had to help my mum raise my younger sister," recalls the star of such films as The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, L.A. Confidential and Ravenous.

"Inside I was so angry and confused, but for my mother's sake I was always pretending how happy I was."

Pearce got a taste of celebrity back in Australia when he starred as a heartthrob in the soap opera "Neighbours".

"I never ever want to go through that again. People shouting at you, pulling at your clothes, demanding autographs. I prefer the anonymity I have now."