Born: Guy Edward Pearce on 5 October 1967, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Guy Pearce is a Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated English-born actor, perhaps best known for his critically acclaimed portrayal of amnesia victim Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, and for his role as Mike Young in the popular Australian television series Neighbours. Other notable credits include the films Rules of Engagement, The Count of Monte Cristo and L.A. Confidential as well as a starring role in The Proposition.

Pearce was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, the son of a schoolteacher and a New Zealand-born air force test pilot who died when Pearce was nine. Pearce moved to Geelong, Australia, where his mother ran a deer farm, when he was three years old. From age 16 to 22, he was a competitive amateur bodybuilder, culminating in a Mr. Natural Victoria title.

Pearce has always been interested in performing, and he excelled at mimicking accents. He starred in several plays when he was young, and graduated to television when he was cast in the Australian soap opera Neighbours in 1985, playing the role of Mike Young for several years. Pearce also found roles in other television series such as Home and Away (1988) and Snowy River: The McGregor Saga (1993).

I always look at films as real stories with real people in real situations. That's why I struggle with the whole notion of calling someone the 'good guy' or the 'bad guy,' because I think we all have potential to do good things and all have the potential to do bad things.

His first major film breakthrough came in 1994 with his role as a drag queen in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Since then, he has appeared in several US productions including L.A. Confidential, Ravenous, Rules of Engagement, Memento, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Time Machine. However, he continues to act in Australian theatre productions as well as Australian films, such as The Hard Word (2002) and the critically lauded The Proposition (2005). He portrays Harry Houdini in the film Death Defying Acts (2007).

Pearce has been married to Kate Mestitz, a psychologist, since March 1997.

100 Sexiest Men of 2008 - No. 63      100 Sexiest Men of 2008 - No. 61