Craig Pearce is an Australian screenwriter and actor.

Pearce was educated at Narrabeen Sports High School with Baz Luhrmann and is a graduate of National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).^[1]

Pearce's acting credits include recurring roles in soap operas The Restless Years (1981) and E Street (1993)^[2] 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,^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5] He also created, wrote and executive produced all six episodes of the 2022 miniseries Pistol, based on Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones's autobiography.^[6] 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.^[7]

Pearce first wife was Strictly Ballroom actor Tara Morice who he married at the Sydney Opera House in January 1997, after having work ex together on the production of Romeo + Juliet in 1995 and 1996.^[8] Together they have a daughter,^[9] Ondine Morice Pearce, who is a film editor, and who was the stills photographer (at age 11) on her mother's documentary My Biggest Fan.^[10]

He married his second wife, Emma Scott, in 2012,^[11] which also ended in divorce.

Pearce divides his time between Sydney, London and Costa Rica.^[12]

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• Craig Pearce at IMDb