Guy Pearce has clarified comments he made earlier this week about his former co-star Kevin Spacey, saying that he now regrets referring to the actor’s “handsy” behaviour without going into any further detail about any specific incident.
During a recent appearance on Interview, host Andrew Denton asked Pearce about his time working with Spacey on the 1997 film LA Confidential. Looking uncomfortable, the Aussie actor replied that it’s a “tough one to talk about at the moment.”
Clearly choosing his words carefully, he went on to say that he had a “slightly difficult time working with Kevin”, adding that his co-star was a “handsy guy” on set, and that “thankfully” he himself was aged 29 and not 14 when the two worked together.
Clarifying his comments in a statement to Fairfax over the weekend, Guy Pearce indicated that he was not sexually assaulted by Spacey on set, but that he was made to feel uncomfortable. “I very much understand that it’s too sensitive a topic to be brushed off,” he said.
“I addressed and handled the situation when it took place, hence my regret at making it public now.”
Last October, actor Anthony Rapp was the first of many men to come forward with allegations of abuse against Kevin Spacey, saying that the actor made unwanted sexual advances towards him in 1986, when Spacey was 26 and he was 14.
Spacey was dropped from his role in House Of Cards and had his part cut out of the Ridley Scott film All The Money In The World after more than a dozen other men came forward with similar claims. Prosecutors in LA are currently reviewing charges against him.
