Inside the Oscar-winning highs and lows of Kevin Spacey’s profession

For decades Kevin Spacey was Hollywood’s golden boy, having made it from a jobbing actor to an international star on stage, TV and in the cinema. 

With two Oscars for his performances in American Beauty and The Usual Suspects under his belt, Spacey was at the peak of his powers when bombshell allegations of sex offences were levelled against him at the beginning of the #MeToo movement.

His once glittering career went into freefall when he was first publicly accused of inappropriate behavior. He suffered the humiliation of being sacked from hit Netflix series House of Cards and being edited out of the Sir Ridley Scott film All The Money In The World, as well as vast financial losses.

Spacey, 64, was acquitted of a number of sexual offences alleged by four men between 2001 and 2013, following a trial at Southwark Crown Court in July last year. 

But, the actor has been thrown back into the limelight once more, with new claims about his past behavior being made in the two-part Channel 4 docuseries Spacey Unmasked.

He is also being sued at London’s High Court by a British man who alleges that in 2008 he was sexually assaulted by Spacey. The actor has denied the allegations.  Spacey on Tuesday overturned a London court ruling which effectively found him liable for an alleged sexual assault of the man after his lawyers mistakenly failed to serve a defense to the civil lawsuit. 

Born in New Jersey in 1959 to Kathleen and Thomas Fowler, Spacey rose from being the son of an abusive father to become a legend of the silver screen whose back catalogue includes blockbusters Seven and LA Confidential.

Spacey previously described his father as a ‘white supremacist’ and ‘neo-Nazi’, saying during a court appearance in New York in October 2022 that ‘I grew up in a very complicated family dynamic.’

The actor claimed that rants by his father when he was young led him to hate bigotry and intolerance.

‘My father was a white supremacist and neo-Nazi,’ Spacey added. ‘It meant that my siblings and I were forced to listen to hours and hours of my father lecturing us about his beliefs.’

The Hollywood star began his career on the stage before trying his hand at film and TV, with great success. 

During his time on Broadway he picked up a Tony Award in 1991 for best featured actor in a play for his performance as ‘Uncle’ Louie in Lost In Yonkers, and the best actor Olivier Award in 1999 for The Iceman Cometh.

He was first awarded the Academy Award for best supporting actor in 1996 for his role as Roger ‘Verbal’ Kint in the mystery thriller The Usual Suspects.

A few years later he picked up the coveted best actor Oscar in 2000 for the dark drama American Beauty, when he played Lester Burnham, an advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter’s best friend, played by Mena Suvari.

In 2004, Spacey became the artistic director of the iconic Old Vic, which was one of the most prestigious posts in the London theater world. He held the position for 11 years.

His career seemingly reached an all-time high after he landed his role as Frank Underwood on the hit Netflix political drama series House Of Cards. 

Spacey was awarded a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for a series of Emmys for his performance on the show.

But in 2017, following allegations of sexual misconduct against Spacey, streaming giant Netflix cut ties with the actor. The sixth and final season of the show was released in 2018 without his involvement.

Despite the continual lawsuits and litany of allegations made against him, the Oscar winner has always remained confident that he could reverse his fortunes.

He once remarked in an interview: ‘In ten years, it won’t mean anything. My work will live longer than I will, and that’s what will be remembered.’

As allegations piled up and his acting roles came to a halt, the hit to the star’s finances was equally devastating. 

MRC, the production company behind House of Cards, launched a legal battle against Spacey in an attempt to recoup the costs for scrapping the final season and replacing him.

An arbitrator deemed the allegations by the young show employees credible and Spacey, who has always denied the allegations, faced a $31million judgment in the case.

But MRC and Spacey reached a settlement in February this year, which will see the actor pay only $1million in installments equal to 10 per cent of his after-tax income – to the company over the next few years instead of the $36million he owed including interest.

In return, Spacey will help MRC in their attempt to recoup the costs from its insurance company. 

Last year, Spacey was acquitted in Britain of nine alleged sexual offences made against him by four men who were in their 20s and 30s between 2004 and 2013.

The famous actor, who sobbed at the dock as his verdict was delivered, went on to add that he ‘never told someone that if they give me sexual favors, then I will help them out with their career, ever’.

His acquittal in London came less than a year after a New York court dismissed a $40million sexual misconduct civil lawsuit brought against him.

The complainant, actor Anthony Rapp, alleged the star had assaulted him when he was 14. He brought the civil case after being told it was too late to bring a criminal charge but failed to convince the jury in that case. 

In 2019, charges of indecent and sexual assault were dropped against Spacey in Massachusetts.

Spacey is currently facing a civil trial in London over a sexual abuse claim after a judge on Tuesday set aside a previous default ruling against the actor. 

A man – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – made the claim against the Oscar-winning actor at the High Court in London in 2022, alleging he was sexually assaulted in 2008 and was suffering ‘psychiatric damage’ as a result.

But the case was put on hold when Spacey was then criminally charged with various sexual offences. He was later acquitted.

Earlier this year, a judge granted the accuser ‘judgment in default’ – a ruling in his favor without a trial – after Spacey’s lawyers failed to serve a defense to the lawsuit in time.

Adam Speker, a lawyer representing Spacey, said it was a ‘genuine error’ by the actor’s legal team from the prominent British law firm Carter-Ruck.

Speker argued it would be unfair for the claimant to effectively win his lawsuit against Spacey without a trial when he had been ‘disbelieved on oath by a jury’.

But judge David Cook said at a hearing on Tuesday that the lawyers had ‘quite frankly “mucked up”,’ and that the mistake ‘should not be visited upon the defendant’.

He therefore set aside the default judgment against the star, saying: ‘The interests of justice require that those allegations go forward to trial and the judgment in default should, therefore, be lifted.’

Tuesday’s ruling means that the claimant’s case against Spacey will proceed towards a full trial.

Claire Glasgow, a lawyer representing the claimant, said that ‘we are pleased that the judge recognized the seriousness of the claim and directed the court to proceed to trial’.

‘Our client is seeking justice in the civil courts for serious allegations against Mr Spacey, regardless of the findings of the criminal trial,’ she added.

The ruling comes one day after Channel 4 broadcast the first part of its Spacey Unmasked documentary.

The docuseries features testimony from 10 men regarding events of alleged inappropriate behavior by Spacey between 1976 and 2013.

Spacey, speaking with former GB News presenter Dan Wootton ahead of the broadcast, denied any illegal activity and said he would not allow himself to be ‘baselessly attacked without defending himself’.

‘I take full responsibility for my past behavior and my actions, but I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who’s made up stuff about me or exaggerated stories about me,’ he said.

Spacey, who served as artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre in London from 2004 to 2015, again admitted that he was a ‘flirt’ with men in their 20s and that he made ‘clumsy’ passes at times.

‘I’ve clearly hooked up with some men, who thought they might get ahead in their careers by having a relationship with me,’ he said. ‘But there was no conversation with me, it was all part of their plan, a plan that was always destined to fail, because I wasn’t in on the deal.’

The actor also claimed in a social media post that he had ‘repeatedly requested’ that Channel 4 give him more than seven days to respond to the allegations made about him in their documentary.

Spacey said the broadcaster refused ‘on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in 7 days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a ‘fair opportunity’ for me to refute any allegations made against me.’

‘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 added.

Spacey said he has struggled to get back to work after being acquitted of all criminal charges, describing his experience as a ‘life sentence.’