In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo finds redemption in “The Convert.” The film follows a preacher sent to British-occupied New Zealand in the 1830s and caught up in the middle of a Maori tribal war. The Lee Tamahori (“Mulholland Falls,” “Along Came a Spider,” “The Devil’s Double”) film stars Guy Pearce, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Jacqueline McKenzie, Lawrence Makoare, Antonio Te Maioha, and more.
Guy Pearce joins the podcast to discuss his role as the preacher Thomas Munro and his long relationship with director Lee Tamahori despite their inability to find a project to work on together until now.
READ MORE: ‘The Convert’ Review: Guy Pearce Stars In Lee Tamahori’s Stunning, Sweeping & Action-Packed Historical Epic [TIFF]
“Lee and I met each other many, many, many years ago and would sort of catch up every three, four, five years and talk about doing something together,” Pearce said. “And I loved Lee the moment I met him. I thought he was wry and just had a wonderful view of the world, and I immediately related to him and thought, ‘I really want to work with this guy if the opportunity arises.’ And things arose, but timing meant it couldn’t really ever work. And then I hadn’t heard from him for some years. And I was in Bulgaria working with Liam Neeson on ‘Memory’ about two or three years ago. And my agent said, ‘Lee wants to give you a call. Will you chat to him?’ I was like, ‘Wow, yes, absolutely!’ As soon as I knew he would call me, I felt like this was something I just had to do. This is something I want to do. We’ve talked about this in the past, and I really hope this is something good. And I just knew it would be. So he called and ran me through the story. I was immediately taken by it, and it wasn’t even a question.”
Many people might see the trailer and assume Pearce’s character is a buttoned-up, strict man of faith. This was the case in the original script, but Pearce and Tamahori had a different take.
“My feeling about him was that he’s not religious really at all,” Pearce said. “The thing is, from the audience’s point of view, you don’t know what he’s been through until he tells the story of the military experience, which is horrific, and he’s traumatized from it. And so, from the outset, I’m the guy with the Bible. I’m coming out here to work as a preacher in this town. So it absolutely makes sense that the view of him is that he is a religious man, et cetera. And, of course, once we discover that story that he tells, that story that he tells is the thing that I’m carrying from the start of the story. And this opportunity to become a lay preacher really is a sort of a second chance at life. He’s so traumatized from before our story begins that he’s given this opportunity and just takes it.”
One might assume that the Australian Aboriginal and New Zealand Maori tribes have somewhat similar histories, but even Pearce, an Australian himself, was surprised to learn just how different the cultural histories were.
“What was interesting for me, too, was just subconsciously or consciously for myself comparing it to Aboriginal culture in Australia. And how different things have ended up for both cultures,” Pearce said. “Because in New Zealand, the Maori stood a better chance of surviving against the European settlement. They were able to work as one; it’s a much smaller place, so they could move and communicate with each other much more easily than Aboriginals in Australia could because [Australia’s] the size of North America. So it was a very different experience; I think Aboriginal tribes were just being wiped out until there were very few left in a sort of sparse part of the country. Whereas in New Zealand and being there shooting this film and seeing many Maori people on the streets and hearing Mahari, you know, today on the radio and going, right, well, it’s much more present in New Zealand culture than Aboriginal culture is in Australian white existence.”
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Pearce is perhaps regarded for film roles like “Iron Man 3,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,” “LA Confidential,” and “Mare of Easttown,” but the actor is perhaps best well-known for Christopher Nolan’s “Memento,” which celebrates its 25th Anniversary next year. To this day, Pearce recalls it as the only time he actively pursued a director.
“Well, [Christopher Nolan] is the only director where I’ve [pursued him],” Pearce shared. “What I can remember from the order of events is I met him, and then I read the script, and then I got to see ‘Following’ afterward or something. Then I thought, ‘I’m going to call him,’ because I’ve heard that, you know, people say, ‘Oh, my God, I had to hound off this director!’ And I called Chris and said, ‘Look, I don’t mean to be an idiot, but I just really need you to know that I love this and I really want to do it. If it means anything at all, sorry, don’t mean to be a prick.’ And Chris was like, ‘Oh, okay, thank you. All good to know.’ You hear about Val Kilmer sleeping on Oliver Stone’s porch and this sort of stuff. I can’t do that sort of thing, but shouldn’t it just go to the actor who’s best for the role? Not the one who’s the most enthusiastic about it? But still, I gave him a call, and it seemed to pay off.”
The Playlist Presents – Guy Pearce’s Film/TV Recommendation Playlist:
1.) “The Elephant Man” (1980) – Directed By David Lynch
2.) “Bluey” (2018-Present) – Created By Joe Brumm
“The Convert” is in theaters Friday, July 12th. You can listen to the full interview below:
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