PINT OF MILK
GUY PEARCE
Do you have a favourite animal?
I was brought up with cats. I find cats fascinating because they’re quite nuts. But I really understand them. In 2002 I got to do a film with tigers [Two Brothers], and Terry the tiger-trainer told me that the reason most people prefer dogs to cats is that cats — big cats — were historically our predators. Whereas dogs weren’t. So, dogs we can bond with, but cats we’re afraid of. For that reason, I find there’s something quite special about connecting with a cat. If you can connect with your predator, that’s pretty exciting.
Do you have a nickname?
I get called different nicknames by different people. My friend Ben calls me ‘Norbert’. My friend Jim calls me ‘Yug’ — which is ‘Guy’ backwards. My friend Paul calls me ‘Spiroshk’. My friend Gursel calls me ‘Scrotey’. Well, we call each other ‘Scrotey’. My friend Hairy — real name Andrew — calls me ‘Gee’, the French pronunciation for ‘Guy’. I have a lot.