In the late 1980's you couldn't turn anywhere without seeing or hearing Neighbours' perky trio Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan or Guy Pearce.
The three Aussie soap stars earned a huge part in our hearts, and if you'd asked anyone back then which of Ramsay St's inhabitants would stay the course, chances are Guy might not have been top of the list.
A former child actor, Guy achieved overnight stardom as Mike Young on the beloved soap, going on to appear in 476 episodes including the final one two years ago, which saw him reunited with Kylie and Jason.
Over the years the now-cancelled soap proved a breeding ground for some of Australia's finest talent including Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe, Chris Hemsworth and Ben Mendelsohn.
But it was partially in reaction to the monotony of the show that prompted Guy to seek out only the strangest and most interesting roles, as amply demonstrated in his 1994 breakout film role as Adam/Felicia in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
© Alamy Stock PhotoProving that wasn't just a fluke, he followed it up with compelling performances in Memento, L.A. Confidential, The Hurt Locker and The King's Speech, before being nominated for a best supporting actor Bafta for his latest film, The Brutalist.
While Guy took chances with his career, at heart he was a homebody, settling down in Melbourne with his childhood sweetheart, psychologist Kate Mestitz, until their 18-year marriage ended in 2015, shortly before he fell in love with his Brimstone co-star Carice van Houten, from whom he has since separated.
Having spent the past 30 years living in Melbourne, Guy recently relocated to Game of Thrones star Carice's native Netherlands with her and their nine-year-old son Monte.
"Carice herself is obviously very famous in Amsterdam so the pair of us together, in talking about trying to lead a very private life, which I think I managed in the last 30 years, I certainly blew it by having a baby with Carice," he says with a laugh.
"She's like the queen of Amsterdam so, suddenly with me being there too, it makes for great magazine fodder apparently."
Similarly, while his contemporaries sought their fortunes in Hollywood, Guy always felt more comfortable back home.
© Instagram"I wanted to handle Hollywood the way I wanted to handle it. A lot of people would say I messed up my career because I didn't go and do big superhero movies like I should have, but I didn't want to. If I got offered a good job in America, great, I'd do it. And if I wasn't getting work in America, I'd just work at home in Australia," says Guy, 57, who turned down the title role in Daredevil and was considered for the role of Henri Ducard in Batman Begins, the part going to Liam Neeson instead.
In The Brutalist, set in post-World War Two America, Guy plays wealthy industrialist Harrison Van Buren, who initially appears as a kindly benefactor, and enlists Adrien Brody's visionary architect László Toth to build him a lasting legacy, but becomes something more manipulative, prone to bouts of rage and violence. Taylor Swift's British ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn plays his son, Harry.
© Alamy Stock Photo"One of the things I enjoy most about acting is that tightrope you walk between different personality traits and psychologies," says the actor, who brings a shifting temperament to the film's most ferocious and symbolic character. "He's a man of a particular era who is smart, driven and has a passion for success; he knows what it means to be a man in a powerful world."
In common with many film baddies, Guy sports a moustache, just as he did for his Emmy-winning role in TV mini-series Mildred Pierce with Kate Winslet.
© Alamy Stock PhotoAsked how the moustache brings out his inner evil, he laughs: "You feel that you can control anybody! I think it's also something about the era as well. They were fairly common in that time. And I think to some degree, for a man, it probably is an additional sense of power or masculinity, and there's vanity involved as well, depending on how much grooming there is going on. And then when I put the which costume on, I am thrust into the character.
"But it's always funny when you do things like that [for a role], and then during the shooting, you have to go out into the real world. You might have a perm, or blue, black hair, or some weird facial hair, and you're sort of apologizing to people as you're buying something from their shop."
The Brutalist opens in cinemas on 24 January
To read the full report, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
