Great Escape
Pearce defies deadly odds in filming of Houdini film
TRICKSTER: Pearce plays the American escapologist known for his daring stunts and obsession with the occult
“It was tricky on a couple of levels,” the English-born, Australian-raised actor says.
“The physical side was a challenge.
“Houdini’s a really strong, muscular, solid guy who’s also got a very great sense of himself and the power of himself. So there was real personality and physical traits that I wanted to honour.
“The first thing I really felt I needed to do, before I could even agree to do the role, was really to get back to the gym and actually start feeling physical again, like I could actually feel my body again, because I’d sort of made it disappear.”
In ‘Death Defying Acts’, Houdini meets a beautiful but deceptive psychic (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter (Saoirse Ronan) when he offers a huge monetary reward to anyone who can contact his mother from beyond the grave.
Playing the famous magician meant recreating some of his famous stunts, including the Chinese water torture cell.
“It was astounding the stuff that I learnt as far as what we can actually do to ourselves to transform. I had quite a serious physical routine.”
It’s been a long road to movie stardom for 40-year-old Guy, who first found fame playing hunky teacher Mike Young in Aussie soap Neighbours during the late 1980s.
Guy made his first film breakthrough playing a mouthy transvestite in 1994’s ‘Priscilla, Queen of The Desert’. Critically acclaimed parts in ‘LA Confidential’ and ‘Memento’ came next, followed by the chance to play Andy Warhol in ‘Factory Girl’.
He freely admits to being hardworking and ambitious, yet Guy insists his Hollywood success happened by accident.
“I just saw opportunities, I really made an effort to audition for loads of stuff and got lucky – I got ‘LA Confidential’. There are plenty of actors who could have played that role, so I just think I was fortunate.”
But rather than taking whatever comes along, Guy says he has always been picky about the films he decides to get involved with.
He often seeks advice from his psychologist wife Kate about taking on new parts. The childhood sweethearts have been married for 11 years.
“I’ll get Kate to read stuff and we’ll talk about it. I’ll say, am I missing something here? Is this cleverer than I think or not?”
He admits that he had doubts about playing Houdini – to the point that director Gill Armstrong had to convince him that he was right for the role.
His co-stars helped too – Guy says he got on famously with Catherine Zeta-Jones.
“I found Catherine delightful. She’s completely professional and really good at what she does “She’s Welsh so she’s hilarious,” he adds with a grin.
Despite being a bona fide star with an enviable track record, Guy remains modest about his success to date.
“I don’t know what it is, it’s different things for different people, because some people just get lucky,” he says.
“Other people are exceptionally talented. Some people are just in the right place at the right time. It’s about persistence.”
- ‘Death Defying Acts’ is now in theatres.
