Kevin Spacey walks out of London's Southwark Crown Court
On July 26, 2023, the Southwark Criminal Court in London, UK, issued a judgment, finding that the sexual assault allegations against "House of Cards" actor and Oscar winner Kevin Spacey were not established, and the sexual assault charges that Kevin Spacey faced in the past 6 years ended.
The assault allegations came from four mature men. Kevin Spacey burst into tears when they charged Kevin Spacey with seven counts of sexual assault and two other serious sexual offenses.
Kevin Spacey was interviewed by the media after his last court appearance
The prosecution alleges that the alleged crimes ran from 2004 to 2013, when Kevin Spacey was artistic director at the Old Vic Theatre in the British capital and often performed plays in the UK, and Kevin Spacey's behavior during this period made the four "feel small".
Kevin Spacey insists he is not guilty. He said he had consensual sex with the four, and his lawyer accused the four of taking advantage of the opportunity to "make a lot of money."
On July 26, 2023, CNN reported that Kevin Spacey was found not guilty
Kevin Spacey and the lawyer in courtroom
【"Woe" caused by "American beauty"】
It is necessary to start with the boring, boring and vexatious middle-aged man, which is about the first impression most people have of this handsome man with a smooth forehead and a face that never leaves scum, but it is definitely not the deepest impression, after all, he has created too many characters to describe him as a stereotype of a specific type of personality.
Stills from the movie American Beauty (1999), Kevin Spacey and Chris Cooper
I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it must be a thing that proves ability.
American Beauty (1999) is perhaps more important to Kevin Spacey than that, almost reinventing our fixture photographs of lost middle-class American men.
Because the image of Leicester he created is so impressive that there is an almost equal sign between the two.
Stills from the movie American Beauty (1999), Kevin Spacey
This is probably the highest value an actor can create, and he redefines a word. Kevin Spacey probably got this role by heaven.
First of all, the film is based on the play script by Alan Ball, yes, it was originally a play, and Amy Fisher was ready to bring it to the stage as early as 1992. But then he realized that this was not a script tailored for the stage at all, it was born for the film.
The scene of the movie "American Beauty" (1999), from left: directors Sam Mendes, Annette Bening, Kevin Spacey
After several years of experience writing TV scripts, Alan Ball adapted it into a film screenplay. And, in the process of adapting the script repeatedly, he rubbed discouragement and frustration into the play, making the script look more pessimistic.
In the end, the script was finally favored by DreamWorks, which spent $250,000 to beat other fierce competitors to buy it. It turned out that DreamWorks was right, and they offered a budget of 15 million and ended up with a box office of 350 million.
Directors Sam Mendes (left) and Kevin Spacey
The film won widespread acclaim, but focused on the directing of Sam Mendes, the performance of Kevin Spacey and the original screenplay by Alan Ball. Terry Gilliam was a candidate for director, but he declined, arguing that the film's point was not his interest.
Later, on the recommendation of Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes took over the guide tube for the film. Previously, Sam Mendes was a theater director who had never stepped into the film and television industry, and this was his first film.
At the 72nd Academy Awards ceremony, from left: Steven Spielberg, Alan Power, Sam Mendes
And the wonderful thing is that Kevin Spacey and Sam Mendes have strikingly similar experiences, he is also a professional actor from theater, and the two are naturally very compatible. Chevy Chase, Jeff Daniels and Tom Hanks were all candidates to play Leicester.
But in the end, Kevin Spacey conquered the casting director with his solid acting skills, but no one knew that this would bring him a climax in his career.
At the 72nd Academy Awards ceremony, Kevin Spacey won the Best Actor Award
And this image made him undisputed to win the Best Actor award at the 72nd Academy Awards.
【Want to shine in the cover】
Let's start a little earlier. Kevin Spacey, born in New Jersey on July 26, 1959, is the youngest son in the family, his mother is an ordinary secretary, and his father is a technical engineer, so his acting talent is definitely not genetic.
Kevin Spacey as a child
But he did show an interest in theater performance at an early age, often participated in theater performances in school, and after graduating from secondary school, he also smoothly entered the Juilliard School to study drama systematically and professionally, a career he loved all his life.
But in 1981, before graduating from school, he was tired of the rigid and sluggish teaching methods in school, and wanted to show his skills on a more open and broad stage. So, he made the decision to drop out.
Stills from the movie "Seven Deadly Sins Se7en" (1995), from left: Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman
If he gave the first impression, it would be the calm, but chilling-looking demon in 1995's Se7en (1995).
At that time, Brad Pitt had already begun the chapter of his career, Morgan Freeman had also advanced with the momentum of drama, and Gwyneth Paltrow was also shrouded in the aura of his mother to a smooth future.
Locations for the movie Se7en (1995), from left: David Fincher, Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey
David Fincher leads an all-star cast that is bound to make the play sensational.
The protagonists in the film are naturally the hot-blooded and handsome and bloody Brad Pitt and the calm and strategic Morgan Freeman, the golden partner of the two, representing justice, courage and various praiseworthy theme characteristics.
Stills from the movie Se7en (1995), Kevin Spacey
They are also the driving force behind the plot of the film. Even if they are aside, there is still the young and beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow to attract Yuguang.
Although Kevin Spacey's status and role can be said to be the only villain, the cornerstone of the movie, the entry point of the truth, and the key to the plot, so many adjectives still do not make people believe what an important character this is.
Stills from the movie Se7en (1995), Kevin Spacey
But Kevin Spacey did. He is afraid that he has performed the most calm and bland criminal in history, and he exudes a first-class dangerous atmosphere all around.
Years later, if you talk about the movie again, probably Brad Pitt's face has long been blurred, but Kevin Spacey's bald head is still shining.
A still from the film "Very Suspect" (1995), Kevin Spacey (right) and Gabriel Byrne
Even if you can't name this frail and religious-looking criminal, The Usual Suspects (1995) not only played his supporting acting status as a supporting actor, but also brought him his first Oscar statuette as Best Supporting Actor.
Although the argument for the ability of a statuette as an actor is a bit tacky, it was at least a stepping stone for Kevin Spacey at the time.
Backstage at the 68th Academy Awards ceremony, Best Supporting Actor Kevin Spacey and Mira Sorvino pose photo
This stepping stone helped him become a first-line actor, although before that, he already had many masterpieces on his resume: 1990's "June Flower/Henry & June" (1990), in which he was sandwiched between the flesh of lustful men and women;
The overlooked 1992 "Tycoon Game Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992), which is almost another one-man play by Al Pacino, although in the future tense of the film is full of actors;
Stills from the movie The Tycoon Game (1992), Kevin Spacey and Jack Lemmon
Even in 1995's Extreme Panic Outbreak (1995), he remained a mortal goodman character who served as an assistant next to Dustin Hoffman.
At this time, he is already 36 years old, in the big dye vat of Haokaiwu, age is not the most important, but no one will ignore this condition.
Set of the movie Extreme Panic (1995), Kevin Spacey and Dustin Hoffman
Fortunately, Kevin Spacey caught the big cake of "Very Suspect" in time and got the most glorious piece. The story after that seems to have little to say, fame continues to accumulate, and all that remains is the question of challenging oneself.
【Fish in water on stage】
As early as 1981, when Kevin Spacey was just 22 years old, he began his professional theater career. First he moved to New York, where he was struggling with what to use to amaze the fastidious and insatiable spectators and critics at the Shakespeare Festival.
In 1988, 29-year-old Spacey and 24-year-old actor Zach Galligan watched a play on Broadway in New York
In the end, he conservatively chose the first act of Shakespeare's classic play Henry VI. The following year, he made his way to Broadway as Oswald in Ibsen's play Ghost, and he was thrilled to join the then-famous actress Liv Ullmann.
He has been performing large and small, and has gone to David Rabe's "Floating Men and Women" to cover all the male roles, and even played the movie version of Mickey Mouse. Now you don't have to wonder where his amazing imitation skills come from.
Kevin Spacey, 22, rehearses on stage
Finally, in 1986, Kevin Spacey was given a crucial opportunity to play a role in Jonathan Miller's (1934-2019) Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953) Long Day's Journey Into Night.
Although not a very important role, his opportunity to perform on the same stage with heavyweights such as Jack Lemmon (1925-2001) and Bit Granger undoubtedly took his career to another level.
Kevin Spacey and David Beckham watch the US Open men's singles final together in September 2013
In fact, this performance is his true stage appearance. And it later turned out that Jack Lemon was indeed the first key figure in his acting career. While they were working, Jack Lemon often mentored and called him out. Later, they also had close cooperation on film work.
After that, Kevin Spacey was a fish in the theater field, smooth sailing, appeared on the big and small stages in ten years, and even after switching to the film field, he still maintains contact with this stage, he is not the kind of person who likes the new and dislikes the old.
In 1999, Kevin Spacey and President Clinton were photographed after the performance of the play "The Iceman is Coming"
In 1991, he won his first Tony Award for his performance in Neil Simon's (1927-2018) Broadway play Lost in Yonks, which was nothing for him. Because he didn't yet know that his talent and influence in theater would be far less than in the film industry.
Kevin Spacey began to be popular on the stage, after all, his performance in the film field was too good and smooth, and his theatrical career can be said to have ended from the moment he stepped into the film industry.
From left: Zhang Ziyi, Kevin Spacey, Zhang Yimou
After that, he concentrated on sound and light, and it was not until the winter of 2003, when the first half of his life was almost at its peak, so Kevin Spacey began to plan something more interesting to him. Drama, that's right, he's back.
【He under the Me Too trend】
If he had wrapped himself in his own world and traveled alone in gay places in his free time, he might have been happy, because he was doing and rejoicing in a world he did not yet own, and did not care what others thought of him.
Kevin Spacey was photographed shopping with her boyfriend
Even if "Very Suspect" made him gain public attention, it still did not break his inherent scope of activities, until "American Beauty" made him soar to the sky, and he became a celebrity with a magnifying glass to everyone, many media hoped that he would "take the initiative to confess and take the initiative to come out".
When he tasted the real popularity, in the face of the "admonition" of Hollywood capital, he began to have a choice, he began to play "Tai Chi", and the gay places where he was active were not popular, but began to haunt some hidden places.
Paparazzi secretly filmed Kevin Spacey dating Little Fresh Meat
After the first season of "House of Cards" (2013) became popular, while everyone appreciated Kevin Spacey's acting skills, they increasingly wanted to "explore" his private life, but he never reported his relationship with any men and women.
Promotional photo for the TV series House of Cards (2013), Kevin Spacey
The "Me Too" movement began to rise in 2017, when it was mainly a Hollywood campaign against gold medal producer Harvey Weinstein for sexual harassment of multiple actresses, and the sixth season of House of Cards (2018) just began filming.
Producer Harvey Weinstein
After that, "Me Too" began to "fight" those well-known people who had made mistakes in the past in an all-round way like "wind and grass", even the "drama bully" was not spared, of course, there were many "whistleblowers" who were mixed with fish, but adhering to the principle of "it is better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one go", people in the circle began to panic.
On October 29, 2017, BuzzFeed News published news that Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of sexually assaulting him
On October 29, 2017, BuzzFeed News published a blockbuster interview with actor Anthony Rapp, the new drama Star Trek: Discovery (2017), which began in September of that year.
In an interview, Anthony Rapp recounted a past that took place in 1986. At the age of 14, he was performing on Broadway with 26-year-old Kevin Spacey, who was invited to a party at his home, but sexually harassed him in the second half of the night.
Anthony Rapp on the left and Kevin Spacey on the right
"He picked me up, slept on top of me and tried to seduce me", said Anthony Rapp". Fortunately, after some effort, Anthony Rapp broke free.
This interview put Kevin Spacey on the cusp of the storm since then, and also pushed him to the trial stand for sexually harassing boys, and to everyone's surprise, his quick response, the so-called public coming statement.
Kevin Spacey in court
Kevin Spacey blamed everything on drunkenness, "I don't really remember this, it's been more than 30 years. If I had done that, I owe him a sincere apology, and I'm very sorry for the feelings he described for haunting him for years. ”
Originally, this apology was difficult to convince the public, and as a result, Kevin Spacey directly added his own coming out declaration, which is difficult not to make people think that he is shifting the focus.
Photo taken by Kevin Spacey for the magazine
He used this to come out publicly by saying, "This motivates me to say something else in my life. I know there are some things out there about me, because I keep my private life secret, so much so there is a lot of gossip. The people closest to me know that I have been in relationships with both men and women, that I have met and developed feelings with some men, and now that I have chosen to become gay, I want to be honest about it and start reviewing my behavior. ”
Kevin Spacey and boyfriend watch a tennis match
Different from the attitude of people who came out to support stars in the entertainment industry in the past, this time Kevin Spacey attracted criticism from everyone.
Comedian Billy Eichner said on Twitter: "Kevin Spacey invented a word that didn't exist before: coming out at the wrong time. ”
CNN reported on January 7, 2019: Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty to sexual assault
September 9, CNN2020 reported: Anthony Rapp sues Kevin Spacey three years later
His statement was criticized by the film and television industry, the media and gay organizations, who believed that he was using his gay status to try to divert public attention, and the gay rights organization Glaad issued a statement saying that "coming out cannot be used as a shield for sexual assault allegations."
Some Twitter netizens commented on the incident: Kevin Spacey bravely came out so that people could forget that he was a pedophile?
In the years that followed, many men accused Kevin Spacey of sexual assault and harassment, which made the public dizzy, but Kevin Spacey always insisted that he was not guilty!
In October 2022, a federal jury in the Manhattan area of New York, USA, finally found insufficient evidence and found Kevin Spacey not guilty, dismissing Anthony Rapp's accusations of unlawful assault and intentional causing mental anguish.
Subsequently, many cases against Kevin Spacey were withdrawn due to insufficient evidence! But at this time, Kevin Spacey is already "a rat shouting at the festival", and everyone's sneering at Kevin Spacey's coming out is definitely not out of discrimination, but because his purpose is impure and not to support gay rights, but to divert attention.
Kevin Spacey walked out of the courtroom
Now, even if Kevin Spacey wins all the victories, standing alone on the top of the hill, watching the flow of people, he may be thinking about how to restore his public image, how to get the public to accept him again, how to get capital to film him again, he needs to solve too many problems... But Kevin Spacey is 64 years old, can he make a comeback?
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