Guy Pearce has denied he has "beef" with Cate Blanchett after appearing to throw shade at her on social media.

A couple of the L.A. Confidential actor's Twitter followers wondered why he had "beef" with his fellow Australian after he posted a series of negative tweets about her over the weekend.

He reposted a tweet announcing Blanchett as the winner of the Best Actress Critics Choice Award for her performance in Tár and wrote that her victory was a "fascinating choice".

The Memento star also replied, "Ah, no thanks" after a Blanchett fan posted throwback images of her in an escapologist-inspired photoshoot, and then called for Ana de Armas to win Best Actress at the Celebrity Film Awards instead of the Tár star.

Pearce responded to the questions over the weekend, insisting he was simply being sarcastic.

"Fear not. No beef at all. I was merely being sarcastic. I adore Miss CB. She's incredible.....One of our best!" he replied to a user.

He also deleted the first two tweets.

Before he insisted he was simply joking, Internet sleuths dug up a late 2000s article in which Pearce said he would not star in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Poor Boy after his run in Melbourne unless Blanchett paid him what she earns.

"Ms Blanchett's fantastic, absolutely, but I've got to make a living," he told The Age. "If she does it'll be the most the STC ever paid an actor, I'll guarantee."

Blanchett and her husband, Andrew Upton, were the artistic directors of the STC from 2008 to 2013.