Pearce gets one tick closer
to being household name
By Mike Szymanski
Knight Ridder Newspapers
HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com,
KRT) — Guy Pearce is blonde and
jet-lagged when he sits down to an
interview in the new Hollywood
complex where the Academy
Awards are going to be handed out
in a few weeks. The 34-year-old
Australian actor isn’t too con
cerned that critics think that he
was robbed of an Oscar nomina
tion for his role as a tattooed amne
siac in the cult indie hit “Memen
to” this past year.
“Do I think the early release of
“Memento” hurt the film? Well, I
think it’s ironic that people should
forget about that film,” he smiles
and sighs. “I’m the last person to
talk about that. I haven’t seen any
of the films.”
Then, he concedes, “I’m a big
Sean Penn fan (nominated for “I
am Sam”), but then I don’t know
what it means to win one.”
He’s looking like his blonde char
acter in “Memento” (a film nomi
nated for Best Original Screenplay
and Best Editing), because he just
finished playing the roguish
Chance Wayne in Tennessee
Williams’ “Sweet Bird of Youth,”
I l111 —■
in an Australian theater, and it was
“important for me to be suntanned
and blond, beach-boy, gigolo-look
ing,” he smiles. “I haven’t had the
chance to dye it out yet.”
If he had his preference, he’d
wear his hair longer, like he has it
in “The Count of Monte Cristo,”
“The Time Machine” and his next
film with “Six Feet Under’s”
Rachel Griffith, “The Hard Word. ”
“I must admit, I always prefer to
have long hair, but I never usually
get a chance to do it because it’s al
ways getting cut off for a job.”
He got to wear lots of fabulous
wigs in “The Adventures of Priscil
la, Queen of the Desert,” which
first got him high praise in 1994 for
playing a bitchy, gaudy drag
queen, and “The Count” was a wig,
but he’s more noted for his short
hair — like the slicked-back look
he had as a straight-laced cop in
“L.A. Confidential.” In that one, he
co-starred with now-Oscar-winner
Russell Crowe.
Pearce has obviously taken the
more eclectic film route, doing
things like the odd cannibal peri
od-film “Ravenous” in 1999 while
Crowe has gone on to do “Gladia
tor” and “A Beautiful Mind.” But
now, Pearce is becoming a house
hold name, and he’s taking on one
of the most beloved characters in
sci-fi history, the Time Traveler in
H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine.”
The film co-stars Dublin singer
Samantha Mumba, Orlando Jones,
Jeremy Irons and Mark Addy and
is directed by the novelist’s great
grandson Simon Wells (who previ
ously directed the animated
“Prince of Egypt”). Wells tells
Zap2it.com that Pearce is one of
the few young actors today who
can pull off the role because he’s
“one of the few actors working to
day who can look bookish and in
telligent like a scientist.”
Pearce admits he is a bit bookish
in real life, and prefers to curl up
with his cats and wife, Kate Mestitz,
and read a book quietly at their
home in Melbourne rather than face
an Oscar party in Hollywood.
Pearce likes spending time with
smaller independent films where
executives aren’t worried about
test screenings or audience reac
tions, and there’s “a purity of cre
ativity and inspiration. ”
©2002, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
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Thomas Patterson Emerald
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent cuts down the net at McArthur Court on Sunday in
celebration of the Ducks’ first outright Pac-10 title since 1939.
Basketball
continued from page 1
perdine this season, 88-64, in Eu
gene in December.
But the Ducks said they won’t
look any further than Montana.
“You can’t look past any team in
this tournament,” forward Luke
Jackson said. “They all deserve to
be there. We know a little bit about
Montana, and we’re looking for
ward to learning more about them
this week.”
Other teams in the Midwest
bracket include top-seed Kansas,
No. 3 Mississippi State, No. 4 Illi
nois, No. 5 Florida and No. 6 Texas.
Oregon was the highest-seeded
Pac-10 team in the tournament.
Arizona received a No. 3 seed in
the South region, while No. 4
Southern California, No. 6 Califor
nia and No. 8 UCLA also ended up
in the South. Stanford received the
No. 8 seed in the Midwest.
For now, Oregon head coach
Ernie Kent said the Ducks will try
to use the emotion from Sunday af
ternoon and channel it onto the
floor Thursday, with Oregon enter
ing the NCAA Tournament with
more pressure than ever before.
“We are really ready,” Kent said
Sunday. “This team is anxious to
play again.”
E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday
at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
Conference
continued from page 1
treatment by Mexican police and
urged them to continue fighting
“environmental injustice” wherev
er they found it.
“Imagine we’re a bunch of peo
ple all in the same house,” he con
cluded. “We should take care of
the land that God gave us. We
should participate in making
God’s kingdom.”
Between 3,000 and 5,000 people
took part in the conference, accord
ing to conference co-director
Jonathan Manton. Manton, a mem
ber of the student law society called
Land Air and Water, which spon
sored the event, said the conference
went even better than expected.
“Things never go exactly as
planned,” he said. “But it was
everything we hoped and much,
much more.”
The capacity crowd in the EMU
Ballroom for 2000 Green Party
presidential candidate Ralph Nad
er on Friday may have accounted
for some of Manton’s optimism.
Nader’s address was scheduled for
noon, but a line of people waiting
to get in had packed the EMU Foyer
by 11 a.m.
Nader called for more “grass
roots” activism and made a point
of telling activists to “start with
family pocket books” in their ef
forts to gain support for environ
mental causes among mainstream
Americans.
“Imagine we’re a bunch of
people all in the same
house. We should take care
of the land that God gave us.
We should participate in
making God’s kingdom. ”
Rudolfo Montiel Flores
ecologist
Hearkening back to his 2000
presidential campaign, Nader crit
icized the lack of environmentalist
leadership in “post-Kyoto Wash
ington” and warned that voting for
politicians based on their oppo
nent’s platform did more harm
than good.
“Once you get to the ‘least woxst’
mode, both candidates will get
worse every four years,” he said.
E-mail higher education editor Leon Tovey
at leontovey@dailyemerald.com.
www.dailyemerald.com
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