Kevin Spacey’s celebrity friends, including Liam Neeson and Sharon Stone, want the disgraced “American Beauty” star to return to screen. But Spacey said he’s in pursuit of a different goal, seven years after multiple men accused him of sexual assault.
“I want to prove that I’m a man of great character,” he said this week. “The responsibility for that is mine and I look forward to being able to prove to people that I am the merit of who I am as a human being.”
Spacey, facing fresh allegations of sexual assault in the new documentary “Spacey Unmasked,” revealed his plans to pick up the pieces of his Hollywood career in a 15-minute interview with NewsNation anchor (and ousted CNN journalist) Chris Cuomo. During the conversation that aired Thursday evening, the “Baby Driver” star vowed, “I’m not going to behave in any way in the future that is questionable.”
The former “House of Cards” star, 64, was among the high-profile men who became persona non grata as he faced scathing allegations of sexual assault and misconduct during the #MeToo movement in 2017. In recent years, Spacey successfully fended off a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from accuser Anthony Rapp, and was found not guilty by a London jury of sexually assaulting four men during his tenure as artistic director at the Old Vic theater.
Seven years after the allegations put his Hollywood career on hold, Spacey told Cuomo that he has spent time self-reflecting, “listening” and making amends to people he feels warranted them. Now, he says, “I just want to get back to work.”
He added: “I’m so grateful for the career that I’ve had and I so feel like I’ve got so much to offer.”
Spacey’s NewsNation interview aired hours after several actors offered him their support via interviews with the Telegraph. In addition to Neeson and Stone, actors Stephen Fry, F. Murray Abraham (who faced his own misconduct allegations) and English theater director Trevor Nunn also vouched for the Oscar-winning “Usual Suspects” star.
The support “means a tremendous amount,” Spacey told Cuomo. Ultimately, “I just want to go back to work.”
“I would much rather play you in a movie than to be sitting here answering questions on your show,” he told Cuomo. “I think I can play you rather well.”
During the 15-minute interview, Spacey also dubbed the #MeToo movement “important” and “valuable,” said he’s become more compassionate and forgiving after the allegations, and blamed fear for people’s hesitation to speak out.
“I think that’s a shame that we’ve come to a place as a society where people are afraid to say what they believe and what they feel because they’re afraid they’re going to get canceled too,” he said.
The United Kingdom’s Channel 4 premiered “Spacey Unmasked” earlier this month. The two-part documentary centers on allegations from 10 men and spans five decades. Spacey slammed the documentary on social media, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that Channel 4 did not provide him enough time to respond to the new allegations.
“I will not sit back and be attacked by a dying network’s one-sided ‘documentary’ about me in their desperate attempt for ratings,” he wrote.
He added: “Each time I have been given the time and a proper forum to defend myself, the allegations have failed under scrutiny and I have been exonerated.”
Time staff writer Eva Hartman contributed to this report.