Kevin Spacey sat for his first U.S. television interview in seven years on Thursday, telling NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that he is eager to “get back to work” in show business after a series of sexual misconduct accusations derailed his career.
When asked by the Cuomo host about some of Spacey’s peers in the industry—like Liam Neeson and Sharon Stone—publicly stating their desire to see his return, Spacey said their support “means a tremendous amount.”
“These are people that I have conversations with who have been really helpful on my path, and I’m very, very grateful to them,” he said. “But look, Chris. Here’s the thing: I just want to go back to work. I would much rather play you in a movie than to be sitting here answering questions on your show.”
Spacey has faced a bevy of sexual misconduct accusations, though none have resulted in convictions. Last July, the actor was acquitted on all nine charges in a sexual assault trial in London. Prior to that, a federal jury in New York found him not liable for battery against actor Anthony Rapp.
Yet accusations against Spacey continue to accrue. Last September, a massage therapist accused him of sexual assault during massages in 2016. A docuseries released this month in the U.K. titled Spacey Unmasked also brought forward 10 more men who accused the actor of sexual abuse. Spacey responded to that news by saying that the network hadn’t offered him enough time to respond to “allegations made against me dating back 48 years.”
“Each time I have been given the time and a proper forum to defend myself, the allegations have failed under scrutiny and I have been exonerated,” he wrote in a social media post.
On NewsNation, Spacey maintained that some of his allies in the industry are “afraid” to back him publicly.
“There are also people that I’ve spoken to who—they love me, they believe in me. They’ve stood with me in private, personally, all the time, but they’re afraid to stand up, and I’ve been very fortunate that people have been honest with me about that,” he said. “And I think that’s a shame, that we’ve come to a place as a society where people are afraid to say what they believe and what they feel because they’re afraid they’re going to get canceled, too.”
Also in the interview, Spacey said he is “much happier today, living a more authentic and open life.” He credited his manager and “best friend” for helping him through the last several years.
“I wish everyone had an Evan Lowenstein in their life. That kind of challenge and push—he encouraged me to go into therapy, encouraged me to go into programs that I would have never done,” he said. “I mean I never would have went into therapy when I was younger. I always sort of fooled myself that being an actor, I was going deep in myself, but I wasn’t.”
“But now I have, and my ability to trust has zoomed and my belief that if you do the work—and anybody who’s done the work knows that you don’t go off and do the work and then come back. The work will continue for the rest of my life,” he went on.
“But I hope that I feel inspired by what I have learned and I feel so grateful that I’m able to come out the other side of all of this more loving more present, more forgiving, more compassionate and not bitter or angry or revengeful, because if I were those things, then none of this would have been worth it.”
This post was originally published on Daily Beast
