Kevin Spacey will return to the big screen following sexual misconduct allegations
Actor Kevin Spacey is plotting his return to acting in films.
The disgraced actor, 61, will appear in an upcoming Italian film called L'uomo Che Disegnò Dio, which translates to The Man Who Drew God, ABC News reports. The film is being directed by Italian actor Franco Nero, who will also star in the film.
"I'm very happy Kevin agreed to participate in my film," Nero told ABC. "I consider him a great actor and I can't wait to start the movie."
Spacey is not yet listed on IMDB's page for the film, which is set to film in Italy. According to the Evening Standard and Telegraph, the Oscar winner will be taking on the role of a detective investigating a wrongly accused pedophile.
Producer Louis Nero has confirmed to Variety that Spacey will make a cameo as a detective in the film, which is described as a "low-budge indie." He also confirmed that Vanessa Redgrave, who is married to Franco Nero, will have a small role in the film as a piano teacher, should she be able to travel from England to Italy.
Yahoo Entertainment reached out to representatives for both Nero and Spacey, but did not hear back by publication time.
In recent years, Spacey has faced significant accusations and lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct, including at least 20 young men who claimed misconduct by Spacey at the famed Old Vic theater in London between 1995 and 2013. The allegations resulted in Spacey leaving the hit Netflix series House of Cards.
Back in September, it was announced actor Anthony Rapp was suing Spacey for sexual assault. The actor, 48, and another unidentified male plaintiff, alleged that they were abused by Spacey at age 14. Rapp first revealed the accusation to BuzzFeed in 2017, and dozens of other men followed with similar allegations about the American Beauty star.
According to the lawsuit, Rapp “sustained psychological injuries" and “emotional and psychological damage” from the abuse, and suffered “severe emotional distress, humiliation, fright, anger, depression and anxiety.”
Soon after Rapp went public in 2017, Spacey apologized and came out as gay.
“I’m beyond horrified to hear his story. I honestly do not remember the encounter… But if I did behave as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior,” he said in a statement on social media. “As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man.”
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017
Last May, Spacey appeared on a podcast and he compared his career's downfall to the effects of the coronavirus on business.
"I don’t think it will come as a surprise for anyone to say that my world completely changed in the fall of 2017,” Spacey said on an episode of the podcast Bits and Pretzels, Yahoo Entertainment previously reported. “My job, many of my relationships, my standing in my own industry were all gone in just a matter of hours. I don’t often like to tell people that I can relate to their situation, because I think it undermines the experience they may be having, which is their own unique and very personal experience, but in this instance, I feel as though I can relate to what it feels like to have your world suddenly stop.”
While Spacey has been laying low professionally in recent years, he does resurface each Christmas to post a bizarre holiday video to YouTube. This past year's version, titled “1-800 XMAS,” offered compassion to people struggling over the holiday season, Variety reported.
“If you’re standing in a place that you can no longer remain standing, if you’re suffering, if you need help, if you feel guilt or shame, if you’re struggling with your identity, if your back’s up against the wall, or if you feel that there is no path for you, whatever your situation, I promise you there is a path,” Spacey says in the video. “At this time during this holiday and beyond, even if you don’t feel it, there are people out there who understand and who can help, because you are not alone.”
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