The actor Guy Pearce, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Brady Corbett's film "The Brutalist," spoke about his experience working with Kevin Spacey of the 1997 film "LA Confidential."

Pierce has previously been coy about her time with Spacey, who has been the subject of ongoing allegations of sexual misconduct — which Spacey has always denied. In 2018, Pierce described him as “a man who likes to touch.”

However, speaking on the Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast, the actor said he is now trying to be more honest about his co-star's alleged behavior, writes The Guardian.

"I'm just trying to be honest about it and use legal terms," ​​Pierce said, adding that he "just burst into tears" when he got a clearer picture of what happened.

However, Pierce wanted to downplay his discomfort compared to others who, according to reports, have gone through much more difficult experiences.

"While I was probably a victim to some degree, I certainly wasn't a victim to nearly the same extent as some other people who were attacked by sexual predators," he said.

He continued: "But I did what a lot of people do – I waved my hand and said, 'Well, it's nothing.' I worked like that for five months. And I was actually a little bit afraid of Kevin, because he's quite an aggressive man. He's incredibly charming and brilliant at what he does, really impressive and so on. He dominates the room he's in. But I was young and impressionable at the time and he was deliberately targeting me, no doubt about it."

Pierce said the only times he felt "safe" while filming in Hollywood were when Spacey's attention was focused on another actor, Simon Baker.

When "things came to light in 2017," Pierce looked back on his experiences with Spacey and spoke to him about it. He said that after that, he "had a few conflicts with Kevin," which "turned ugly."

Pierce's change of heart was prompted by allegations from actor Anthony Rapp, who claimed that Spacey attempted to sexually assault him at a party in New York in 1986, when he was just 14. Numerous other allegations followed.

"I heard these stories about Kevin, officially as news. I was in London, working on something, and when I heard those reports, I just burst into tears and couldn't stop. I think that's when the impact of it all became clear to me, how I had suppressed it and rejected it, or how I had just blocked it out. It was an incredible moment of awareness," Pearce said.

Spacey has been legally acquitted of charges of misconduct and sexual assault in separate trials in the US and the UK, as well as in the lawsuit filed against him by Rapa.