I won’t pretend that I know every precise detail of the accusations that have been thrown against Kevin Spacey in recent years.
What I do know is that Italy has been a total refuge for the legendary actor and the country has now decided to honor him with their most prestigious national film prize, the Stella della Mole Award for lifetime achievement. Enzo Ghigo, president of the National Museum, and Vittorio Sgarbi, Undersecretary to the Italian Ministry of Culture, presented Spacey with the prize.
“Tonight we’re witnessing Kevin Spacey’s comeback,” said Sgarbi, adding. “The one living through cinema is an immortal man, and it is precisely him that we are awarding this prize to tonight.”
These past five years have not been good for Spacey, but things seem to slowly be turning around for the actor.
Back in October, a jury found Spacey not guilty in regards to the molestation charges brought forth against him by actor Anthony Rapp. There were plenty of holes in Rapp’s account of the events, but I still wondered if Spacey could get out of this one. He did and now we’re wondering what’s next.
Spacey had also been charged in 2017 for, allegedly, sexually assaulting the teenage son of former Boston WCVB-TV news anchor Heather Unruh at a Nantucket bar in July 2016. Eventually the charges against Spacey were dropped. Spacey’s accuser had altered phone records/text messages. When the accuser took the fifth in court, that sealed the deal and the complainant lost the case.
That hasn’t stopped investigators in London and L.A. from continuing to investigate the actor over other allegations of sexual assault. Directors Paul Schrader and Bernardo Bertolucci have defended Spacey.
Most of these charges stem from Spacey’s time as the artistic director at London's The Old Vic theatre between 2004 and 2015. The actor did apologize for any "inappropriate drunken behaviour,” but says he can’t remember any incidents of wrongdoing during that time.
Last we heard of Spacey, the actor, he had been kicked off his own Netflix show, “House Of Cards,“ and had his already-shot role in Ridley Scott’s “All The Money In The World” completely erased and redone by Christopher Plummer.
Last year, the New York Post reported that Spacey was already plotting his Hollywood comeback, stating that he was “still getting acting offers from Europe and Russia.”
Spacey was one of the great living actors before he got embroiled in these controversies, his career highlights included marquee roles in American Beauty, The Usual Suspects, Se7en, Glengary Glen Ross, L.A. Confidential and The Negotiator.