Kevin Spacey's famous friends, including Liam Neeson and Sharon Stone, want the disgraced “American Beauty” star to return to the screen. But Spacey said he is pursuing a different goal, seven years after several men accused him of sexual assault.
“I want to show that I am a man of great character,” he said this week. “The responsibility for that is mine and I hope I can show people that I am worth who I am as a human being.”
Spacey, who is facing new sexual assault allegations in the new documentary “Spacey Unmasked,” revealed his plans to resume his Hollywood career in a 15-minute interview with NewsNation host (and ousted CNN journalist) Chris Cuomo. During the conversation that aired Thursday night, the “Baby Driver” star promised, “I'm not going to behave in any way that's questionable in the future.”
The former “House of Cards” star, 64, was among the high-profile men who became persona non grata as they faced harsh accusations of sexual assault and misconduct during the #MeToo movement in 2017. In recent years , Spacey successfully defended himself against a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from accuser Anthony Rapp, and a London jury found him not guilty of sexually assaulting four men during his tenure as artistic director of the Old Vic theater.
Seven years after allegations put his Hollywood career on hold, Spacey told Cuomo that he has spent time reflecting on himself, “listening” and making amends to people he believes deserve it. Now, he says, “I just want to get back to work.”
He added: “I am very grateful for the career I have had and feel I have a lot to offer.”
Spacey's NewsNation interview aired hours after several actors offered their support through interviews with the Telegraph. In addition to Neeson and Stone, actors Stephen Fry, F. Murray Abraham (who faced his own allegations of misconduct) and English theater director Trevor Nunn also vouched for the Oscar-winning star of “The Usual Suspects.”
The support “means a lot,” Spacey told Cuomo. Ultimately, “I just want to get back to work.”
“I'd rather play you in a movie than sit here answering questions on your show,” he told Cuomo. “I think I can play with you pretty well.”
During the 15-minute interview, Spacey also called the #MeToo movement “important” and “valuable,” said he has become more compassionate and forgiving after the allegations, and blamed fear for people's hesitance to speak out.
“I think it's a shame that we've gotten to a point as a society where people are afraid to say what they believe and what they feel because they're afraid they'll be canceled too,” she said.
The UK's Channel 4 premiered “Spacey Unmasked” earlier this month. The two-part documentary focuses on the allegations of 10 men and spans five decades. Spacey criticized the documentary on social media, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that Channel 4 did not give 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 its desperate attempt to get ratings,” he wrote.
He added: “Each time I have been given time and an appropriate forum to defend myself, the allegations have failed under scrutiny and I have been exonerated.”
Time staff writer Eva Hartman contributed to this report.
