Guy Pearce felt like he was “ready to kill somebody” at the height of his fame.

The 53-year-old actor shot to prominence on the Australian soap ‘Neighbours’ and after making the switch to Hollywood, he struggled to cope with his own fame and success.

He shared: “I went to America still carrying this baggage of not believing in myself or the value of my work, so I was extremely picky.

“I had people around me saying I should do a superhero film, but I was only interested in films that felt heavy and psychological. I’d done five films back-to-back and was pretty spent, turning up to work every morning and growling at people. I was battling with myself all the time over whether it’s just ridiculous and childish, faking stuff for a living.”

Guy – whose film credits include ‘L.A. Confidential’, ‘The Hurt Locker’ and ‘The King’s Speech’ – ultimately decided to take some time off because he was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the stresses of the industry.

He told The Independent: “I was about ready to kill somebody, to be honest, so I took 18 months off, had a big old think about it and a bit of a lie-down and came back thinking actually, this is something that will keep me young. It’s a wonderful, youthful perspective on life. It was the decision of a thirty-something man, not an eight-year-old boy.”

Guy played the part of Mike Young on ‘Neighbours’ in the 1980s and he struggled to “make sense” of his own fame at the time.

He said: “I hated the fame thing, really struggled with it.

“I knew ‘Neighbours’ wasn’t Shakespeare, but I was doing my best while knowing that I wasn’t doing a great job – and yet, screaming girls chased us down the street. Trying to make sense of that was quite a test.”