“Cancel culture”: Kevin Spacey makes a (small) return to cinema

for four years, Kevin Spacey has disappeared from radar. Accused of sexual assault, the 61-year-old actor is persona non grata in Hollywood, in the midst of post-MeToo change. Blacklisted by American cinema, the actor ofAmerican Beauty yet makes a discreet comeback in an Italian film, revealed the director to Variety, Sunday 23 May. Kevin Spacey takes on a small role as a police officer in The man who designed God, directed by Franco Nero, a budget independent feature film.

This is the first time that Kevin Spacey has reappeared on screen since about 30 men accused him of sexual assault and harassment. His last role dates back to 2018, in the film Billionaire Boys Club, a resounding flop after The Hollywood Reporter. Double Oscar winner, the actor from South Orange (New Jersey) made the heyday of Netflix for his role of Franck Underwood in House of Cards. In 2017, the streaming platform ousted its main character because of multiple testimonies from members of the film crew, confirming inappropriate behavior. Netflix’s reaction follows a first accusation against the actor: the latter allegedly assaulted and hit actor Anthony Rapp and a second anonymous victim in the 1980s, when they were fourteen years old..

A stalled career

His apologies and his homosexual coming out did not change the case: Kevin Spacey fell from his pedestal. “Killed” in House of Cards, digitally erased in All the money in the world by Ridley Scott… Hollywood has ended the career of the actor, who comes out of silence only through videos on his YouTube channel. For now, the lawsuits against the main person concerned have been dropped in Massachusetts, where the American actor was charged with indecent assault and sexual assault, the victim having chosen to remain silent. In November 2017, this young man claimed to have been sexually assaulted in a bar a year earlier. Despite further investigations in the United States and England, this was his only indictment.