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 has a daughter with Tara Morice.

He married Emma Scott, in 2012, a marriage which ended in divorce.

Pearce divides his time between Sydney, London and Costa Rica.

Acting credits

Film Year Work Role Notes 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

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