Christopher Nolan Wanted Guy Pearce in ‘the Prestige’

• Guy Pearce said he missed roles in Christopher Nolan’s films because a Warner Bros. executive was not a fan of his work.
• Pearce told BI that Nolan wanted him for “The Prestige” and “Batman Begins,” but WB blocked him.
• “If I can only work with Chris Nolan once in my life, I’m fine with that,” Pearce said.

Guy Pearce has never worked with Christopher Nolan since starring in 2000’s “Memento,” but it’s not from a lack of trying.

Years after Nolan cast the Aussie in his backwards-told neo-noir, in which Pearce plays a man looking for his wife’s killer, he wanted him to team up with another star for his 2006 movie, “The Prestige,” about two rival magicians set in Victorian London.

“He was talking to Jude Law and I about it,” Pearce told Business Insider in a recent interview while promoting his upcoming movie, “The Brutalist.”

“And next thing you know, he went and made it with Batman and Wolverine,” he continued, referring to Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. “But Warner Bros. was involved.”

Before Nolan could move forward on “The Prestige,” he made the first movie in his beloved Batman trilogy, 2005’s “Batman Begins.” Warner Bros. would release both. (“The Prestige” was released internationally by WB and domestically by Disney).

During that time, Pearce said he and his agent realized that an executive at WB wasn’t a fan of the actor since Nolan’s attempt to cast him in “Batman Begins” was also halted.

“There was an executive at Warner Bros. who admitted to my agent that I was not someone he believed in and ever wanted to work with, so he was never going to work with me,” Pearce told BI. “And I’m glad we found that out because, for a while, it was weird that I could never get another job at Warner Bros.”

“We found out because Chris offered me a role in ‘Batman Begins,'” Pearce continued. “This was at a time when he wanted Bruce Wayne’s mentor to be around the same age as him. So I flew to London to see Chris, and by the time I landed, he was told that Warner Bros. was never going to employ me.”

Pearce said what transpired left him “puzzled” as instead of meeting with Nolan to talk about the movie, the filmmaker showed him the Batmobile, took him out to dinner, and sent him back on his way.

“I have no idea why this executive felt this way. He supposedly told Chris, ‘I don’t get Guy Pearce. I’m never going to get Guy Pearce. I’m never going to employ Guy Pearce.’ So that never happened,” he added.

WB did not respond to comment for this story.

A year after “Batman Begins” opened in theaters, Nolan came out with “The Prestige,” starring Bale, who played Batman in his trilogy, and Jackman.

Looking back, Pearce said he’s not bitter about missing out on working with Nolan again. “Listen, if I can only work with Chris Nolan once in my life, I’m fine with that,” he said.

Nolan did not respond to a request for comment.