INTERVIEW: Guy Pearce on Prometheus: 'It's Not An Alien Prequel'
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- Category: Interviews
- Created: Monday, 02 April 2012 07:51
- Published: Monday, 02 April 2012 07:51
- Written by Lupe Haas
Guy Pearce goes to space not once but twice in 2012 with Prometheus and Luc Besson's Lockout. During the press day for Lockout, the Aussie actor revealed Ridley Scott's high anticipated return to the Alien franchise is not an Alien prequel, and calls the movie a "big beast" because of the secretive nature surrounding it.
Listen to the audio interview below.In Prometheus, Guy Pearce plays Peter Weyland the CEO and founder of Weyland industries, the company responsible for sending out the Nostromo in the 1979 Alien film starring Sigourney Weaver. While the extent of his role in the Ridley Scott science fiction is hush hush, the character of Peter Weyland was introduced with a clip of the executive giving a speech at the 2023 TED talk. The clip was produced independently of the movie and served as a viral online push for the summer blockbuster.
During our sit down with the Lockout star, Pearce said the pressure of keeping details about the Prometheus movie a secret "adds extra weight" because of the massive online buzz surrounding the project.
"There's an extra weight added to that movie because everybody has such an expectation. And it's an interesting time at the moment because there's a lot of discussion going on about what we can say, what we can't say. . . that keeps kind of changing so I reluctant to kind of talk about it really because none of it is really established yet. But it's an interesting thing to be part of, obviously because of Ridley and because of Ridley's history with other films. "While he couldn't say much about Prometheus, Pearce was adamant that the Ridley Scott film is "not an Alien prequel."
"It's not an alien prequel. It's a stand alone movie. There are some characters that run through from that but it's an alien prequel. "Perhaps a better word for Prometheus might be "origin story" since he does reveal the film shares characters with the existing films. As an actor, Pearce feels the pressure of keeping details quiet and compares the movie to a "big beast."
"I'm kind of just going "Wow this is sort of big beast to be attached to.' And I'm very curious to see it. I haven't seen it myself but the little bits that I have do look quite amazing so we'll see."Guy stars with an ensemble cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace, and Idris Elba. Prometheus is in movie theaters June 8, 2012.
Before Prometheus, Guy Pearce can also be seen in space in Lockout, an action science fiction project produced by Luc Besson which opens April 13, 2012.