Last week,Kevin Spaceywas acquitted of nine sexual assault charges in a courtroom in London, England. Following the verdict, Spacey burst into tears and then thanked the jurors who acquitted Spacey, whose career and life have been paralyzed by sex abuse allegations since 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexually harassing Rapp at a party in 1986 when Rapp was fourteen, and Spacey was twenty-six.
Spacey’s victory in the criminal trial follows his 2022 court victory over Rapp, who filed a $40 million civil lawsuit against Spacey for allegedly molesting Rapp when he was a teenager. In 2019, a potential criminal assault charge against Spacey was dropped by prosecutors in Massachusetts after an accusing witness suddenly refused to testify. If Spacey had been convicted in this case, he could have been sentenced to five years in prison.
Despite the acquittal, Spacey has, to say the least, paid a heavy price, both figuratively and literally, for his past personal behavior. In 2020, Spacey, whose finances have been doubtlessly crippled by continual legal bills, was sued by MRC, the production company behind the Netflix political drama seriesHouse of Cards, for violating the company’s sexual harassment policy and was ordered to pay $31 million.
Prior to the commencement of the criminal trial in London, Spacey expressed cautious optimism that he would be able to resume his acting career once the criminal charges were behind him. However, even though Spacey has now escaped criminal jeopardy, will Spacey be able to achieve any sort of redemption in Hollywood, where Spacey has been a pariah for over six years?
The Erasure of Kevin Spacey
Since 2017, whenKevin Spacey was confrontedby Anthony Rapp’s allegation, which heralded the emergence of approximately thirty additional sexual assault accusations against Spacey, Spacey has essentially been erased from both Hollywood history and the public’s consciousness.
In the wake of the first rush of allegations against Spacey, Spacey’s performance as billionaire industrialist J. Paul Getty in the Ridley Scott-directed biographical thriller filmAll the Money in the Worldwas completely excised from the film, as Spacey was replaced by Christopher Plummer, who received an Oscar nomination for his replacement performance in the movie.
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Following the initial allegations, Netflix terminated its relationship with Spacey, who was fired from his starring role in the Netflix seriesHouse of Cards, in which Spacey starred from 2013 to 2017. Netflix also shelved its 2018 biographical drama filmGore, in which Spacey plays literary iconoclast Gore Vidal, and there is no indication that the $33 million film will ever be released.
Moreover, two-time Oscar winner Spacey’s films, many of which had previously enjoyed lengthy post-theatrical lives on cable television, have largely disappeared from television in recent years, as broadcasters have been increasingly loath to air Spacey’s films, even such acclaimed titles asAmerican Beauty,L.A. Confidential, andThe Usual Suspects.
The Court Of Hollywood (And Public) Opinion
DespiteKevin Spacey’s acquittal, Spacey’s chances of ever regaining acceptance in Hollywood, especially at the major studio level, seem very bleak, primarily because the risks of hiring Spacey seemingly far outweigh any benefits that the now sixty-four-year-old Spacey might bring to any upcoming film and television project.
Any prominent filmmaker, or star, who attached themselves to Spacey in a film or television project, would instantly be accused of validating Spacey’s alleged crimes and indiscretions, which would also overshadow the project itself. This is a completely untenable situation, and no amount of court victories, if not outright exoneration, is likely to change this dynamic in the foreseeable future. Quite simply, why would anyone take such a risk unless they, like Spacey himself, found themselves in the position of having nothing to lose?
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A Career on the Fringes
AsKevin Spacey’s recent historyindicates, the only refuge that seems open to Spacey now is an independent, overseas film and television production, for which Spacey’s name recognition might be seen as bringing significant value to a project that would otherwise have gone completely unnoticed, if not unreleased.
In May 2021, Spacey was cast, in a supporting role, as a police detective in a crime drama film calledThe Man Who Drew God, which stars Franco Nero, who also directed the film. In August 2021, filming began on a low-budget thriller calledPeter Five Eight, in which Spacey plays a serial killer opposite co-star Rebecca De Mornay.
In the summer of 2022, Spacey was cast, in a voice role, in the independent action-thriller filmControl, in which Spacey’s character, known as The Voice, plots revenge against a female British politician who has been having a secret affair with the British Prime Minister. Gene Fallaize, the film’s director and writer, says he has no regrets about casting Spacey in the low-budget film, especially following Spacey’s acquittal.Said Fallaize:
“I don’t regret casting Kevin, and I would do it all over again. It was a risk, and we knew it was a risk at the time. We had no shortage of people saying to us, ‘Ooh, that’s such a risky move.’ A good friend of mine, who used to be an exec at one of the studios, said that he thought it was genius casting, because if he [Spacey] gets found not guilty, you will have a clean Kevin Spacey in a way that you would never normally have been able to get him. It was just weighing the options, really, and thinking through the pros and cons, and how’s it really going to affect us if worse comes to worst?”
