Guy Pearce, the star of films likeMementoandL.A. Confidential, knows why Ridley Scott’sPrometheuswas divisive and why some audiences didn’t connect with the movie. Pearce, whose name isalready being mentioned during the award seasondue to his role inThe Brutalist,spoke to Business Insider about his career, and at one point was asked about his time on Ridley Scott’s return to theAlienfranchise.
Pearce was asked about which role he liked more between playing Peter Weyland inPrometheus, or Aldrich Killian inIron Man 3. His answer was pretty curious:“I think Aldrich Killian was probably more fun. I mean, Peter Weyland was hard work because I was literally wearing an exoskeleton and five hours of prosthetic makeup.”
InPrometheus, Pearce plays Peter Weyland, the mogul behind the mission that takes humans to LV-223. Ultimately, it’s revealed Weyland’s investment follows a more personal agenda, and things don’t exactly go well when they bring the Engineer back from stasis. Pearce compares Killian to Weyland:
“With both of those roles, them being on big Hollywood movies, by then, I had a big rethink about how to function.
Aldrich andIron Man 3was an opportunity to kind of dip my foot back into the water of the studio world. The pressure isn’t on me. It’s a good character. So I got to do what I want to do in that world.”
Nevertheless,Pearce appears to be more fondof his participation in the Ridley Scott prequel toAlien.Prometheusis way more discussed in popular culture thanIron Man 3, but that’s also because Scott’s prequel was incredibly divisive upon release. Some viewers claimed it was a worthy return to the world ofAlien, but some simply didn’t like Scott’s take. Pearce is part of the former:
“I think the movie is brilliant, but I’ll say, if you don’t get what’s happening in the first five minutes then you’re lost for the rest of the movie. And I had the benefit of listening to Ridley [Scott] talk about it before we started shooting.
I loved it, but it was a tough experience physically. I couldn’t sit down because of this metal frame thing. So between shots they would just lean me against the wall.”
Was ‘Prometheus’ a Good ‘Alien’ Movie?
Upon release, reviews were mixed.Prometheushad a good box office performance, but it wasn’t a huge blockbuster that capitalized on its connection toAlien, because it’s not what Scott intended to do. Instead, the director made a standalone film that just happens to take place before the events ofAlien, and the franchise connections were there to please fans and no one else.
Critics were in tune with the ambitious sci-fi approach, but they felt the story lacked momentum. Even though the cast was great (Pearce, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, etc), it was centered around Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw, a female character that hadanything but Ellen Ripley’s energy. While everything kind of worked in its own way, the connections to the widerAlienfranchise are the only things anyone really wanted by the end of it.
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So, to answer the question: WasPrometheusa good movie? Sure. It just wasn’t the best way to approach a connection to the roots of the franchise. Its religious and philosophical undertones are complex, and as Pearce said, not many viewers were in tune with what happened in the essential first five minutes of the film. However, things would become even more disjointed inAlien: Covenant, so at leastPrometheushad the chance to stand on its own feet before that.
