Guy Pearce Thinks He Was Terrible In Christopher Nolan's Memento

These days, Christopher Nolan is busy dominating the box office and riding high off making the first blockbuster to win Best Picture in 20 years. But back in 2000, he was barely an up-and-coming director. With just one self-funded film to his name (1998's "Following"), the director finally had a modest budget from an independent film studio and set to work turning his brother Jonathan's short story idea into a film.

In Jonathan's original story, "Memento Mori," a man named Earl suffers from anterograde amnesia and uses notes and tattoos to help his future self remember key information about his life, with the ultimate goal of finding the mystery individual responsible for murdering his wife. When working on the screenplay adaptation, however, Christopher Nolan came up with the idea to tell part of the narrative in reverse, thereby ensuring his film version, "Memento," would be remembered as one of the most innovative films of its era.

"Memento" was well-received enough to create a buzz around Nolan, and the director then embarked on one of the most impressive filmmaking careers of the modern age. But it wasn't just the Nolan brothers that were responsible for the success of "Memento." Star Guy Pearce is undoubtedly part of the reason it worked as well as it did. Indeed, Entertainment Weekly hailed "a performance by Guy Pearce that's as indelible as the tattoo ink covering his body," while TimeOut praised the "grade A work from all concerned, especially Pearce."

Throughout Nolan's subsequent filmography, he has worked with many of the same actors in multiple projects, which is why it's odd that he never reunited with the star of his first proper movie. Pearce previously claimed that the reason he and Nolan hadn't worked together since "Memento" was due to a Warner Bros. executive who didn't "get" the Aussie actor. But he recently walked back those comments after having rewatched the movie, replacing them with some far more self-critical claims.

Guy Pearce's performance as Leonard Shelby in "Memento" is, for any fan of the actor, surely one of his best performances. Having to contend with Christopher Nolan's twisted narrative structure was surely a challenge to say the least, but throughout the film you believe the insurance salesman with a case of anterograde amnesia is every bit as determined yet confused by his predicament as you might expect. Still, it seems Pearce — who more recently delivered an excellent turn in the overwhelming triumph that is "The Brutalist" — isn't a fan of his work in "Memento."

The actor spoke to The Times and backtracked on his earlier comments about a Warner Bros. exec precluding him from working with Nolan. Pearce claimed to have rewatched "Memento" recently and not only did he think he did a bad job in the lead role, but suggested that his performance was the real reason he and Nolan never worked together again. "I'm having an existential crisis," he said. "I watched 'Memento' the other day and I'm still depressed. I'm s*** in that movie."

Pearce went on to explain that he'd recently taken part in a Q&A for "Memento" and "decided to actually watch the film again." He continued, "While it was playing I realized I hate what I did. And so all this stuff about an exec at Warners being why I've not worked with Chris again? It came crashing down. I know why I didn't work with Chris again — it's because I'm no good in 'Memento.'"

It remains unclear whether Guy Pearce's performance really was the reason why he and Christopher Nolan never worked together after "Memento," but it seems unlikely. Pearce seems to be the only one with a dislike for his own performance, as critics at the time were universally complimentary of the actor. What's more, the actor previously recalled how he had flown to London to read for the role of Ra's al Ghul in Nolan's "Batman Begins" in 2005. The "Iron Man 3" star told Vanity Fair, "I think it was decided on my flight that I wasn't going to be in the movie." Why would Nolan fly him to London if he felt the man had delivered a bad performance in his first official film?

Still, Pearce maintained in his Times interview that his lack of any further collaboration with Nolan was his own doing. But what exactly did he dislike about his portrayal of Leonard Shelby? "I was trying to do a flippant attitude but it was all wrong," the actor said, before being even more harsh on himself: "John Gielgud once said, 'You can be good in a good movie, good in a bad movie, bad in a bad movie, but never be bad in a good movie.' Yet I watched 'Memento' and realized I'm bad in a good movie. F***!"

Asked if he'd mentioned any of his "Memento" misgivings to Nolan, he said:

"No, because I reckon he'd agree with me. It's funny; people say I should've been nominated for 'Memento.' Now I understand why I wasn't. Look, I'm pleased with 'LA Confidential,' but I look at this and go, 'Oof! Nails on a chalkboard!'"

In fact, Nolan does not agree with him. The director profusely praises Pearce's acting in "Memento" in an interview that appears in Tom Shone's 2020 book "The Nolan Variations."

In 2022, Pearce spoke to /Film about his characters, saying that he focuses on "the internal workings of the character and making sure that feels honest." Clearly he feels he didn't achieve that with Leonard Shelby, but audiences will ultimately be the judge of whether or not it works, and so far, they've supported it loud and clear.