Guy Pearce says he regrets his comments about Kevin Spacey being 'handsy' on the set of 'L.A. Confidential'

Kevin Spacey [left] and Guy Pearce [right] starred in "L.A. Confidential" together. (Netflix/ABC)

After publicly revealing that now-disgraced actor Kevin Spacey got “handsy” on the set of the 1997 film “L.A. Confidential,” actor Guy Pearce says he regrets the way he handled the reveal.

The actor previously appeared on Australian TV where he took a shot at Spacey for his behavior on the set, noting that he was fortunate that it didn’t happen to him while he was younger.

“I very much understand it’s too sensitive a topic to be brushed off,” Pearce said in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald. “I addressed and handled the situation when it took place, hence my regret at making it public now.”

The outlet also reports that Pearce told Fairfax Media, which owns the Herald, that he “wished to clarify his comments regarding Spacey and that while he was not sexually assaulted, he was made to feel uncomfortable.”

As previously reported, Pearce appeared on Australian TV with interviewer Andrew Denton where he commented on Spacey’s behavior on the 1997 film.

“Tough one to talk about at the moment. Amazing actor. Incredible actor. Slightly difficult time with Kevin, yeah... He’s a handsy guy,” the Australian actor told Denton. “Thankfully I was 29, and not 14.”

The “14” comment is a not-so-subtle reference to actor Anthony Rapp, who was the first to come out against Spacey in October 2017. The “Star Trek: Discovery” actor alleged that Spacey made sexual advances toward him when he was 14 years old.

Spacey released a statement soon after in which he claimed he didn’t remember the encounter but took the opportunity to come out as gay. Since that time, Spacey was fired from the final season of his hit Netflix series “House of Cards” as well as being replaced in the Ridley Scott movie “All the Money in the World” by actor Christopher Plummer.