Guy Pearce has appeared in some award-winning movies throughout his career, and he has named his favorite film – a 45-year-old classic with a high 91% Rotten Tomatoes score. With a career that started in 1985, Pearce has a mᴀssive list of credits to his name, although he often disappears into his roles as a supporting actor in some recognizable motion pictures. Many fans probably remember him best from his iconic performance in Christopher Nolan’s Memento. However, he has proven his talent with Academy Awards, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes nominations.

After breaking into acting with his role in the Australian television series Neighbours, he made his name in several major movies, including leading roles in films like L.A. Confidential and Ravenous and supporting roles in pictures like The Brutalist and Prometheus. However, one director that Pearce never worked with was the iconic David Lynch, which might have disappointed the actor. That is because he has said that his favorite movie of all time was the 1980 drama The Elephant Man.

Guy Pearce’s Favorite Movie Is The Elephant Man

Guy Pearce Named His Four Favorite Films, Led By David Lynch’s Classic

While promoting their 2023 movie The Convert, Guy Pearce talked about his favorite movies with co-star Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne. After she mentioned her favorite movies (Happy Feet, Kung Fu Panda, Lion, and Slumdog Millionaire), Pearce named a list of four films and revealed which was his favorite. He started by saying, “I always say that my favorite film is The Elephant Man.”

Guy Pearce went on to say, “It’s just the film that means so much to me and has meant so much to me ever since I first saw it in 1980.” That would have meant a lot to Pearce since he was 13 in 1980, so this movie was likely an intense experience for the teenager. He then added the following three movies to his list: The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Last Temptation of Christ. He then finished by saying that the Australian western The Proposition was his favorite movie he starred in.

David Lynch released The Elephant Man in 1980 after finding success with his abstract debut film Eraserhead. Throughout his career, it was the most straightforward film and the only one that was easy to watch for mainstream audiences. However, it was also the movie that brought him the biggest success, while the rest of his career was spent making surreal releases that played to a niche audience.

Why The Elephant Man Still Holds Up So Well

The Elephant Man Is A Perfect Biopic

The Elephant Man is a biopic by David Lynch that tells the true-life story of Joseph Merrick, a disfigured man who lived in London during the Victorian Era, nicknamed The Elephant Man. John Hurt starred in the lead role as John Merrick, while Anthony Hopkins took on the co-starring role as Frederick Treves, the doctor who rescues Merrick from a freakshow to be his patient at the hospital. While mocked and feared by the general public, John is an intelligent and kind-hearted man.

The film presents John in a positive light, and he is so much more than his disfigurement, although that is what holds him down in his life. Interestingly, the makeup work for John Merrick was so good that it caused the Academy Awards to create a new category for makeup work. However, it didn’t help the movie since it didn’t go into effect until the following year (An American Werewolf in London was the first movie to win the award). While there was no makeup award, The Elephant Man received eight Oscar nominations.

Sadly, The Elephant Man didn’t win any Oscars despite being nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. The movie remains an iconic classic regardless. In addition to being Guy Pearce’s favorite movie of all time, it was also ranked as one of the best movies of the 1980s by publications like Time Out and Rolling Stone. It is also one of the best movies to ever lose at the Oscars, falling to Ordinary People the same year Raging Bull was also nominated.

Source: Time Out, Rolling Stone.