Of all the possible reasons why an actor might receive a "no" when auditioning for a part in the cut-throat world of movies, being "too handsome" must rank among the best of them. But that's exactly the fate that almost befell Guy Pearce before he won the part of Adam Whitely/Felicia Jollygoodfellow in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Guy Pearce at the premiere of The RoverGuy Pearce: too pretty for Priscilla

Director Stephan Elliott recently told The Herald Sun that he had reservations about Pearce starring in the 1994 comedy-drama, which follows the adventures of three drag queens, because the young Guy was just so darn good looking:

"The honest truth is that I didn't want him. I said 'he is too pretty'. He was too handsome," Elliott admitted.

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Referring to Pearce's three-year stint as the character Mike on the Australian soap 'Neighbours', Elliott said: "For him, I think it was a chance to go out and kill Mike. It was his chance to put [him] to bed. He took to it with a vengeance. When he was in character, he could do everything that Mike from Neighbours could never be allowed to do."

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The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert helped launch Pearce to global superstardom in 1994. Three years later, he starred in L.A. Confidential alongside Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey, before receiving critical acclaim in Memento in 2000. 

The 47-year-old actor has been spending time in New York recently promoting his latest project, indie film Results, a romantic comedy also starring Cobie Smulders, who's best known as Robin from 'How I Met Your Mother'.