Memento star Guy Pearce says a Warner Bros. exec blocked him from more Christopher Nolan movies, including Batman Begins: "I think he just didn’t believe in me as an actor"

Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby covered in tattoos and reading a note at a table shirtless in the thriller movie Memento.

(Image credit: Pathé Distribution)

Guy Pearce says he was blocked by Warner Bros. from working with Christopher Nolan on Batman Begins and The Prestigue.

"He spoke to me about roles a few times over the years,” Pearce told Vanity Fair. "The first Batman and The Prestige. But 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."

When Pearce was asked why he thought the executive blocked him from working with Nolan, he replied: "I think he just didn’t believe in me as an actor."

Pearce starred in Nolan's 2000 psychological thriller Memento, which follows a man named Leonard Shelby who suffers a traumatic experience that causes him to develop anterograde amnesia - resulting in short-term memory loss and the inability to form new memories. Leonard uses an elaborate system of photographs, handwritten notes, and tattoos - that he gives himself - in an attempt to uncover the perpetrator who killed his wife and caused him to lose his memory. The emotional film was both a critical and commercial success, grossing $40 million against a budget of $9 million and earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.