Guy Pearce revealed Sunday that he was recovering from a chest infection as he walked the red carpet at the 2025 Oscars. The Australian actor, who received his first Oscar nomination for his role in The Brutalist, shared that his health had taken a toll just before the star-studded event.
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"I'm a little husky voiced at the moment. I actually had a chest infection about two weeks ago," Pearce told The Morning Show's Mylee Hogan, via The Daily Mail. "And then it turned into this terrible cough which has now turned into losing my voice. The timing couldn't have been better."
Pearce then described the moment he found out about his Oscar nomination. It actually came while in transit.
"I landed and turned my phone on, and the nominations had come through," Pearce said. "So I was trying to get through immigration and customs with people texting me about this Oscar nomination."
The nomination for Best Supporting Actor is for his performance in The Brutalist, a period drama where Pearce plays an American industrialist in post-WWII America. He stars alongside Adrien Brody, Felicity Martin, and Joe Alwyn in the film, which explores the pursuit of the American Dream through the experiences of a Hungarian Jewish architect who survived the Holocaust.
Oscars Nomination
Pearce had previously shared his surprise at receiving the nomination, admitting in January that he wasn't sure if his work on The Brutalist was worthy of such an honor. "I am a bit confused, I suppose. I've seen people win awards and I thought, 'really?'" he told The Courier Mail. "Then I've seen other people not win awards and gone, 'really?' So I don't know what I think about it all to be honest."
Despite his ambivalence, Pearce acknowledged that winning an Oscar would be a special moment. "I'm sure if I was to win an award I'd go, 'Wow. That was great, pretty cool,'" he said. "I think as long as I felt like what I'd done was worthy of it."
The film was released in the U.S. in January. It is scheduled to hit Australian cinemas later this year.
In addition to his Oscar nomination, Pearce is known for his work in Memento, L.A. Confidential, and The Hurt Locker.
Pearce recently revealed the surprising reason he missed out on a role in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, despite his friendship with the director. Pearce, who starred in Nolan's Memento, was flown to London to read for the role of Ra's Al Ghul in Batman Begins (2005). However, he lost the role due to circumstances outside of his control and has not worked with Nolan since.
