# Craig Pearce

Craig Pearce is an Australian screenwriter and actor.

## Early life

Pearce was educated at Narrabeen Sports High School with Baz Luhrmann and is a graduate of National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).

## Career

Pearce's acting credits include recurring roles in soap operas The Restless Years (1981) and E Street (1993) and children's series The Miraculous Mellops 2 (1992). He made guest appearances in Bellamy (1981), Rafferty's Rules (1987) and G.P. (1989). He had film roles in I Can't Get Started (1985), Nightmaster (1988), To Make a Killing (1988), Mad Bomber in Love (1992) and The Seventh Floor (1994).
As part of the theatre ensemble team 'Six Years Old', Pearce formed a creative partnership with filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, with whom he co-wrote the play Strictly Ballroom as well as the screenplay of the 1992 movie adaptation. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!, the 2013 film The Great Gatsby, and the 2022 film Elvis; all with Luhrmann.
He wrote the screenplay for the 2010 film Charlie St. Cloud, starring Zac Efron. He also created the 2017 10-part television series Will, based on the lost years of a young William Shakespeare, which aired on TNT. He also created, wrote and executive produced all six episodes of the 2022 miniseries Pistol, based on Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones's autobiography. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film The Power of the Dark Crystal, which was cancelled, but later adapted into a comic book series in 2017.
Pearce received the Australian Writers' Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

## Personal life

Pearce first wife was Strictly Ballroom actor Tara Morice who he married at the Sydney Opera House in January 1997, after having work ex together on the production of Romeo + Juliet in 1995 and 1996. Together they have a daughter, Ondine Morice Pearce, who is a film editor, and who was the stills photographer (at age 11) on her mother's documentary My Biggest Fan.
He married his second wife, Emma Scott, in 2012, which also ended in divorce.
Pearce divides his time between Sydney, London and Costa Rica.

## Acting credits
### Film

| Year | Work | Role |
| 1985 | I Can't Get Started | Mark |
| 1988 | Nightmaster | |
| 1988 | To Make a Killing | Terry |
| 1992 | Mad Bomber in Love | Bernard Lynch |

### Television

| Year | Work | Role | Notes |
| 1980 | Spring & Fall | Schoolfriend | 1 episode |
| 1981 | Menotti | | 1 episode |
| 1981 | Bellamy | Jimmie | 1 episode |
| 1981–1982 | The Restless Years | Michael Lee | 3 episodes |
| 1987 | Vietnam | Corporal | Miniseries |
| 1987 | Rafferty's Rules | Lyle Jurd | 1 episode |
| 1988 | Watch the Shadows Dance | Guy Duncan | TV movie |
| 1992 | The Miraculous Mellops 2 | Grub | 13 episodes |
| 1993 | G.P. | Mark | 1 episode |
| 1993 | E Street | Bronco Miles | 13 episodes |
| 1994 | The Seventh Floor | Ed | TV movie |

### Stage

| Year | Work | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | Peer Gynt | The Boy / Ballon / Hussein / The Gaunt One | NIDA Theatre, Sydney |
| 1984 | Welcome the Bright World | Sebastian Ayalti | NIDA Theatre, Sydney |
| 1984 | Pericles & The Comedy of Errors | Antiochus / Leonine / Sea Captain | NIDA Theatre, Sydney, Playhouse, Canberra, Community Arts Theatre, Newcastle |
| 1984 | Street Scene | | NIDA Theatre, Sydney |
| 1985; 1989 | Say Goodbye to the Past | | Bridge Theatre, Coniston, Stables Theatre, Sydney with Theatre South; Griffin Theatre Company |
| 1985 | Even More Wonderful Wollongong | | Bridge Theatre, Coniston with Theatre South |
| 1986 | Hamlet | | Phillip St Theatre, Sydney |
| 1987 | Urban Tales of Utter Devotion | | Stables Theatre, Sydney with Griffin Theatre Company |
| 1987 | Kennedy's Children | | Exchange Hotel, Balmain, Sydney with New Mercury Theatre Company |
| 1988 | Dangerous Curve | | Performance Space, Sydney with Underground Theatre Productions |
| 1988 | Haircut | | Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC & Six Years Old Theatre Company |
| 1988 | Angels | | Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC & Six Years Old Theatre Company |
| 1989 | Romeo and Juliet | | Sydney Opera House with STC |
| 1989 | New Short Works - Spoleto Fringe Program 1: Grace Among the Christians | Giles | Universal Theatre, Melbourne |

## Writing credits
### Film

| Year | Work | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | Strictly Ballroom | Screenplay | |
| 1996 | Romeo + Juliet | Screenplay | |
| 2001 | Moulin Rouge! | Writer / Soundtrack – lyrics | |
| 2010 | Charlie St. Cloud | Screenplay | |
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby | Screenplay | |
| 2017 | The Power of the Dark Crystal | Screenplay | Cancelled |
| 2022 | Elvis | Screenplay | |
| TBA | Monster Blood Tattoo | | In development |

### Television

| Year | Work | Role | Notes |
| 2009 | Dancing with the Stars | Soundtrack – lyrics | 1 episode |
| 2009 | 81st Academy Awards | Sketches writer | TV special |
| 2017 | Will | Creator / Producer | 10 episodes |
| 2022 | Pistol | Creator / Executive producer | Miniseries, 6 episodes |

### Stage

| Year | Work | Role | Notes |
| 1984; 1988 | Strictly Ballroom | Writer (Book / Composer) | NIDA Theatre, Sydney, Wharf Theatre, Sydney |
| 2014–2015; 2018–2019, 2023, 2024 | Strictly Ballroom the Musical | Writer (Book / Composer) | Sydney Lyric Theatre, Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, Lyric Theatre, Brisbane, Otago Boys High School, Dunedin, Cardinia Cultural Centre, Melbourne, Frankston Arts Centre, Leeds, UK, Toronto, Canada, Piccadilly Theatre, London, Crete Street Theatre, Beenleigh with Beenleigh Theatre Group |

## Awards

| Year | Work | Award | Category | Notes |
| 1992 | Strictly Ballroom | Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Screenplay – Original or Adapted | Won |
| 1993 | Strictly Ballroom | BAFTA Film Awards | Best Screenplay – Adapted | Nominated |
| 1997 | Romeo + Juliet | Online Film & Television Association | Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium | Nominated |
| 1998 | Romeo + Juliet | BAFTA Film Awards | Best Screenplay – Adapted | Won |
| 2002 | Moulin Rouge! | BAFTA Film Awards | Best Screenplay – Original | Nominated |
| 2002 | Moulin Rouge! | Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen | Nominated |
| 2002 | Moulin Rouge! | Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards | Sierra Award for Best Screenplay | Nominated |
| 2002 | Moulin Rouge! | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Screenplay – Original | Nominated |
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby | INOCA Awards | Halfway Award for Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated |
| 2013 | Strictly Ballroom | 20/20 Awards | Best Original Screenplay | Nominated |
| 2016 | Craig Pearce | Australian Writers' Guild Awards | Lifetime Achievement Award | Honoured |
| 2022 | Elvis | AACTA Awards | Best Screenplay in Film | Nominated |
| 2022 | Elvis | Australian Film Critics Association Awards | Best Screenplay | Nominated |
| 2023 | Elvis | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Screenplay | Nominated |
| 2023 | Elvis | CinEuphoria Awards | Best Screenplay – International Competition | Nominated |