The 'Hurt Locker' actor talks about his career and reveals he was 'ready to kill somebody' before taking a timeout as he was overwhelmed by the stresses of the industry.

• Oct 6, 2021

AceShowbiz - Guy Pearce felt like he was "ready to kill somebody" at the height of his fame.

The actor shot to prominence on the Australian soap "Neighbours" and, after making the switch to Hollywood, he struggled to cope with his own fame and success.

"I went to America still carrying this baggage of not believing in myself or the value of my work, so I was extremely picky," he told Britain's The Independent newspaper.

"I had people around me saying I should do a superhero film, but I was only interested in films that felt heavy and psychological. I'd done five films back-to-back and was pretty spent, turning up to work every morning and growling at people. I was battling with myself all the time over whether it's just ridiculous and childish, faking stuff for a living."

Guy - whose film credits include "L.A. Confidential", "The Hurt Locker", and "The King's Speech" - ultimately decided to take some time off because he was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the stresses of the industry.

"I was about ready to kill somebody, to be honest, so I took 18 months off, had a big old think about it and a bit of a lie-down and came back thinking actually, this is something that will keep me young," he explained. "It's a wonderful, youthful perspective on life. It was the decision of a thirty-something man, not an eight-year-old boy."

Guy played the part of Mike Young on "Neighbours" in the 1980s and he struggled to "make sense" of his own fame at the time.

"I hated the fame thing, really struggled with it," he said. "I knew Neighbours wasn't Shakespeare, but I was doing my best while knowing that I wasn't doing a great job - and yet, screaming girls chased us down the street. Trying to make sense of that was quite a test."