NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Over the years, has been good in most all things. But he鈥檚 been particularly good at playing characters with a refined disposition who harbor darker impulses underneath.
That was true of his breakout performance in 鈥淟.A. Confidential" as a squeaky clean police detective whose ambitions outstrip his ethics. It was true of his dashing upper-class bachelor in 鈥淢ildred Pierce.鈥� And it鈥檚 most definitely true of his mid-Atlantic tycoon in
鈥淚鈥檓 really aware of how precarious we are as human beings,鈥� Pearce says. 鈥淕ood people can do bad things and bad people can do good things. Moment to moment, we鈥檙e trying to just get through the day. We鈥檙e trying to be good. And we can do good things for ourselves and other people, but pretty easily we can be tipped off course.鈥�
That sense of duality has served Pearce鈥檚 characters well, especially his men of class who turn out to have less of it than they seem. His Harrison Lee Van Buren in 鈥淭he Brutalist鈥� may be Pearce鈥檚 most colossally two-faced concoction yet. If Brady Corbet鈥檚 film, which was , is one of the best films of the year, it鈥檚 Pearce鈥檚 performance that gives the movie its disquieting shiver.
Pearce鈥檚 Van Buren is a recognizable kind of villain: a well-bred aristocrat who, at first, is a benevolent benefactor to Adrien Brody鈥檚 architect L谩szl贸 T贸th. But what begins as a friendship 鈥� T贸th, a Holocaust survivor is nearly destitute when they meet 鈥� turns increasingly ugly, as Van Buren鈥檚 patronage, warped by jealousy and privilege, turns into a creeping sense of ownership over T贸th. The psychodrama eventually boils over in a grim, climactic scene in which Van Buren pronounces T贸th 鈥渏ust a lady of the night.鈥�
鈥淲hat was great to discuss with Brady is that he is actually a man of taste,鈥� said Pearce in a recent interview. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a man of class and a man of sophistication. He鈥檚 not just a bull in a China shop. He鈥檚 not just about greed, taking, taking, taking. It鈥檚 probably as much of a curse as anything that he can recognize beauty and he can recognize other people鈥檚 artistry.鈥�
For his performance, the 57-year-old Pearce on Thursday landed his first Oscar nomination 鈥� a long-in-coming and perhaps overdue honor for the character actor of 鈥淢emento,鈥� 鈥淭he Count of Monte Cristo鈥� and 鈥淭he King鈥檚 Speech.鈥� For the Australian-born Pearce, such recognitions are as awkward as they are rewarding. He long ago decided Hollywood stardom wasn鈥檛 for him.
鈥淚 get uncomfortable with that, to be honest,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 really happy with doing a good performance. I can genuinely say within myself I鈥檝e done a good job. Equally, I know when I鈥檝e done a (bad) job. But I鈥檓 also well aware of how a performance can appear good purely because of the tone of the film. I might have done exactly the same performance in another movie with not such a good director, and people might have gone, 鈥楾hat was full-on but whatever.鈥� Whereas in this film, we are all better than we actually are because the film has integrity to it that elevates us all.鈥�
Like F. Murray Abraham鈥檚 Saleri in 鈥淎madeus,鈥� Peace鈥檚 Van Buren has quickly ascended the ranks of great cinema villains to artists. The character likewise has some basis in reality, albeit extrapolated from a much different time and place. Corbet and Mona Fastvold, who are married and wrote 鈥淭he Brutalist鈥� together, were fueled by their hardships with financiers on their previous film, 2018's 鈥淰ox Lux.鈥�
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have a Van Buren but we certainly had our fill of complicated relationships with the people who hold the purse strings,鈥� says Fastvold. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a sense of: I have ownership of the project because I鈥檓 paying for it, and I almost have ownership of you.鈥�
Pearce has been around the movie business long enough to shake hands with plenty of wealthy men putting money toward a film production. But he says none of his own experiences went into 鈥淭he Brutalist.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 always this slew of producers at a higher level than us who come and visit the set,鈥� Pearce says. 鈥淚鈥檓 polite and I go, 鈥楬i, nice to meet you. Thanks.鈥� But I鈥檓 a little caught up with what I鈥檓 doing. Then three years later you鈥檒l meet someone who says, 鈥榊ou know, I was a producer on 鈥淟.A. Confidential.鈥濃�� Ah, were you?鈥�
Pearce, who lives in the Netherlands with his partner, actor Carice van Houten, and their son, has generally kept much of Hollywood at arm's length. In conversation, he tends to be chipper and humble 鈥� more interested in talking Aussie rules football than the Oscar race. 鈥淎ny chance to have a kick, I'll have a kick,鈥� he says with smile.
That youthful spirit Pearce tends to apply to his acting as well. Pearce, who started performing in the mid-'80s on the long-running Australian soap opera 鈥淣eighbors," doesn't like to be precious about performing.
鈥淚f I鈥檓 hanging on to it all day, it鈥檚 exhausting,鈥� Pearce says. 鈥淭he thing that still exists for me is using our imagination, which is kind of a childlike venture. I think there鈥檚 something valuable about that even as adults. I think you can be all ages at all times.鈥�
Pearce compares receiving the script from Corbet to 鈥淭he Brutalist" to when approached him 25 years ago. Both times, he went back to watch the director's earlier films and quickly decided this was a opportunity to pounce at.
In digging into Van Buren, Pearce was guided less by real-life experience than the script. The hardest entry way to the character, he says, was the voice. 鈥淭hankfully,鈥� Pearce says, 鈥淚鈥檓 friends with Danny Huston and he鈥檚 got a wonderfully old-fashioned voice.鈥� He and Corbet didn't speak much about the director's hardships on 鈥淰ox Lux.鈥�
鈥淚 know that it was troubled. Brady is going to have trouble on every film he makes, I reckon, because he is such a visionary,鈥� says Pearce. 鈥淚 know on this there were producers trying to get him to cut the time down. Of course, all those producers now are going, 鈥業 was with him all the way.鈥欌��
To a certain degree, Pearce says, he doesn't fully understand a performance while he's doing it. He's more likely to understand it fully afterward while watching. Take that 鈥渓ady of the night scene.鈥� While filming, Pearce felt he was saying that line to put T贸th in his place. 鈥淏ut when I watched it, I went: 鈥業鈥檓 just telling myself. I鈥檓 purely telling myself,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something even more distasteful about it.鈥�
It's ironic, in a way, that Van Buren, a man bent on control, is played so indelibly by an actor who seeks to impose so little of it, himself.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a performative element to Van Buren. He exhausts himself because he鈥檚 trying to dominate, to be the one in charge, be Mr. Charming,鈥� Pearce says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he can ever enter a room without being self-conscious. That鈥檚 an exhausting way to be, I reckon.鈥�
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
