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It’s nearly been a year since Kevin Spacey was acquitted of all nine sexual offense charges in a U.K. criminal trial, and the two-time Oscar winner has publicly admitted that his career is still in the doldrums.
The two solitary projects of his that have released in the last 12 months — “Control” and “Peter Five Eight,” both low-budget indie features and far removed from the starry features he was leading before his glittering four-decade career imploded when allegations first emerged in 2017 — landed without much noise. In a tearful interview on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” in June, he claimed that he owed so “many millions” of dollars in legal fees that his house in the U.S had been foreclosed and he’d almost had to file for bankruptcy several times.
But while he may still be the highest profile actor effectively “canceled” by mainstream Hollywood in the wake of the #MeToo movement, Spacey continues to be feted across Europe, with sellout appearances and now two awards, both announced almost back-to-back and taking place a day apart later this month.
On July 21 in the historical Italian town of Taormina in Sicily, Spacey will take the stage at a 4,000-seater ancient Roman theater in the shadow of the active Mount Etna volcano to be presented with the Nations Award, an honor that dates back to 1970 and has previously been given to the likes of Woody Allen, Abel Ferrara, Claudia Cardinale and Gerard Depardieu (F. Murray Abraham won it last year).
The night before, in a slightly less grandiose setting, he’s set to be given the best thriller performance award for “Control” at the second edition of the Folkestone Independent Film Awards taking place on England’s south coast (an event being held in the port town’s Quarterhouse performing arts venue).
And earlier this month, Spacey was the guest of honor at the Golden Apricot Film Festival in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, where he was presented with a special prize on the opening night, taught an acting masterclass and addressed a packed room of fans. In videos on social media, he’s seen getting a standing ovation and receiving gifts from the audience, one of whom says “god bless you” and thanks Spacey for visiting the country.
In Brit thriller “Control,” which was announced while preparations for the U.K. trial got underway, Spacey only has a voice role (he’s heard as a menacing antagonist who takes over the car of a British politician). But for Folkestone Awards organizer and local filmmaker Colin O’Reilly, it was enough for him to be given one of the event’s four main awards (it gives out around 97 awards in total).
“He’s a brilliant villain in the film,” O’Reilly tells Variety, suggesting that it’s a performance — despite just being vocal — that actually outclasses the overall quality of “Control” (which he says was hindered by its low budget), and reminded him of his drawl in “American Beauty.” That said, “Control” director Gene Fallaize is also getting an award at Folkestone and will be there on the night (Spacey’s presence may be unlikely given his Italian date the next day, although O’Reilly is in touch with his manager and is hoping for a video message).
Over in Taormina, Spacey’s honor isn’t for an individual performance, but part of what co-organizer Marco Fallanca says is as a “strong defense of artistic achievements.”
Fallanca, who describes Spacey as a “loyal man and a good man,” had gotten to know the actor previously, working with him when he gave a masterclass and received an award at Italy’s National Cinema Museum in Turin in January 2023, his first speaking engagement in more than five years. At that event, Spacey thanked the museum for “having had ‘le palle,’” which is Italian for “balls,” to invite him.
The latest honor from Italy is “in some way” an act of solidarity with Spacey, Fallanca says, pointing to the fact he’s been found not liable in his civil sexual abuse trial in the U.S. and has been acquitted in the U.K.
“Maybe in Europe, which is the cradle of democracy and birthplace of law and legal rights, we believe in the presumption of innocence,” he says. “So if someone is cleared of all charges in a court and people continue to hound him with one-sided attacks, it’s totally not justified, and the ostracization and cancellation cannot be considered proportionate. It might happen in Hollywood, but it doesn’t concern real life and justice, so this is the reason why we’re making a strong defense of his artistic achievements.”
Interestingly, it’s in Italy where Spacey has received the most support since his fall from grace. Alongside the various honors, it was there where he filmed his first project since allegations erupted, the 2022 drama “The Man Who Drew God,” while last December he returned to shoot thriller “The Contract.” Like “Control,” both films are toward the lower end of the independent spectrum, but in a quote to Variety Spacey said he was appreciative of the solidarity he’s been receiving from that corner of the movie world.
“I have always loved and supported independent films, but now more than ever, I am grateful that independent filmmakers are supporting me,” he said.
Both awards in Italy and the U.K. have arrived as Spacey attempts to restart his career a year on from his last trial. But they also come just a couple of months after a fresh series of allegations were made against the actor in a new documentary.
In the two-part “Kevin Spacey Unmasked,” which aired in May on Max in the U.S. (and on Channel 4, which was a co-producer, in the U.K.), nine individuals, none of whom had come forward previously, described their experiences with him in testimonies spanning five decades. Among the allegations were that Spacey groped an actor on the set of Netflix’s “House of Cards” and inappropriately touched young actors while he served as artistic director of London’s Old Vic Theatre.
Even before the show aired, Spacey fired back at the documentary, denying any accusation of illegal behavior and saying he “would no longer be speechless.” In a pithy statement sent to Variety at the time, Spacey said he was “honored to be starring in my first film with Warner Bros. in many years,” adding that he hoped the “Academy takes note of some of the great acting by the lesser known cast.”
While the awards organizers in Italy and the U.K. may argue that the timing of their events has nothing to do with the latest allegations, for Mike Lerner, the Oscar-nominated doc-maker who produced “Kevin Spacey Unmasked” for his Roast Beef Production banner, honoring Spacey so soon afterwards shows deep disrespect toward the alleged victims who gave testimonies on camera.
“It’s insensitive to say the least,” says Lerner, arguing that this is especially true for the Folkestone Awards given that many of the new allegations took place in London. “It’s also grasping for publicity. It’s a very cynical move to get attention.”
Fallanca claims there’s no intention “to be disrespectful to these people at all,” but asserts that in believing in the presumption of innocence, given that Spacey has been cleared of all charges in the court, anything else is “simply gossip.”
Meanwhile, O’Reilly at Folkestone says that he never actually heard about “Kevin Spacey Unmasked” or any of the new allegations. But he notes that, even if he had, his awards are purely based on a film’s production, using the points system for judges as arranged by popular festival platform FilmFreeway. Yet he does also claim there is a notion of trying to help Spacey get back on his feet, saying he’d heard about his recent appearance on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” when making the decision and that the actor was “struggling.”
It may take more than a couple of largely unknown awards in Europe to resurrect Spacey’s career to anywhere close to where it was pre-2017. Even the small number of films that have come out have faced an uphill battle to attract attention, despite his court victories. In October, a London cinema dropped an offer it had accepted to host the world premiere of “Control.”
But as part of the awards ceremony in Taormina, Spacey is giving a 15-minute acting performance on stage, something most of the audience in attendance won’t have seen him do in many years.
“He’s probably the finest actor of his generations and an extraordinary connoisseur of his jobs,” says Fallanca. “He deserves the chance to act, so this is what he will do.”