Kevin Spacey thanks Italian director for giving him a role ‘when few people had the guts’ during sexual assault accusations

‘American Beauty’ star has been honoured at a string of film industry events as he attempts to make a career comeback

Kevin Spacey thanked Django actor Franco Nero onstage at the Italian Global Series Festival for casting him when “very few people had the guts” while he was facing sexual assault accusations.

The 65-year-old two-time Oscar winner was speaking at film industry event on on Monday (23 June) in Rimini, Italy, where he was presented with the Maximo Award for Excellence, adding to his recent string of honours as he attempts to make a career comeback.

The actor’s career was stalled in 2017 when he stepped away from the spotlight while facing allegations of sexual assault misconduct by more than 30 men. Spacey denied the allegations, which were cleared in 2023.

During his acceptance speech, Spacey credited Nero for reviving his career and stepping up “when very few had the guts” by giving casting him in his first role after the allegations came to light – playing a detective in Nero’s 2022 film The Man Who Drew God.

Spacey then employed his previous character, John Doe, the sociopathic serial killer from David Fincher’s Se7en, and told the crowd: “As I say to Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman when asked, ‘Where are we headed?’ I simply respond with, ‘You’ll see.’”

It comes a month after Spacey made his first appearance Cannes Film Festival since being cleared of sexual assault allegations

Spacey quoted his “friend” Elton John’s 1983 song “I’m Still Standing” as he accepted a lifetime achievement award for excellence in film and television.

The American Beauty actor delivered an almost 10-minute-long speech, in which he compared his ousting from Hollywood to the blacklisting of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (who was ostracised from Hollywood in 1947 for his ties to communism) and grew emotional as he praised his “best friend” and manager Evan Lowenstein for his support.

Kevin Spacey credited Italian director Franco Nero for reviving his career (Getty)

He quoted the lyrics of John’s 1983 hit, saying: “As my friend Elton John once said, and the reason that this means so much to me, is because I’m still standing, I’m still standing.”

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Variety reported that Spacey told the crowd he had “come out the other side of these last few challenging years not angry, not bitter, not resentful, but more present, more loving, more understanding and more forgiving than I ever have been in my life”.

The actor hailed the Better World Fund for taking “risks” by inviting him, saying: “Who would have ever thought that honouring someone who has been exonerated in every single courtroom he’s ever walked into would be thought of as a brave idea.”

Kevin Spacey made his first appearance at Cannes Film Festival last month (Getty)

Since his acquittal, Spacey has starred in a number of small projects, including the 2024 thriller The Contract, where he played the Devil.

In 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexually abusing him in 1986. Spacey would have been 26 at the time, while Rapp was 14.

Rapp’s allegations were later dismissed by a Manhattan court in 2022. Spacey has since faced several more allegations of sexual misconduct over the years, all of which he has either denied or insisted were consensual.

In 2023, Spacey stood trial in the UK after four men alleged that he had sexually assaulted them in separate incidents over the period between 2001 and 2013. He was again cleared of all nine offences.