You play a guy with a memory span of a goldfish. How do you play a role where every time we see you in a scene we have to re-interpret it? It must put a strain on you.
When I went through the whole process of rehearsal with Chris Nolan, the director, it seemed very complex and quite convoluted. And then I suddenly got to a point where I realised there was actually quite a lot of freedom. Like any character you play, you essentially have to work out mentally where you're at, at any given time, so it's the same principle. It's just an extreme set of circumstances because you know that everything that you're concentrating on you can just forget and then start something new. So it was quite interesting to work on.
Were you attracted to this film because it subverts some of the suppositions that we have about thrillers?
I was attracted to the situation that this character has found himself in. The loss of short term memory and on a mission to find the killer of his wife. The way in which Chris had structured the film means a lot of it essentially runs backwards. I found that really innovative and it relates to the condition that the character is suffering.
Guy Pearce on appearing in "Neighbours" and working with volatile, William Friedkin.
