Kevin Spacey Set To Return To Movies In Italian Paedophilia Drama

After years of absence the American actor, Kevin Spacey, will now be starring in a new Italian film titled L’Uomo che disegnò Dio (The Man Who Drew God), directed by Franco Nero.

In his return to the screen, Spacey will be playing a detective investigating the case of a man wrongly suspected of paedophilia. The landing of the role marks the American Beauty-actor’s first comeback on screen after he faced a wave of accusations of sexual misconduct.

30 years and 20 accusations

In 2017, actor Anthony Rapp came forward with allegations of Spacey trying to take advantage sexually of him at a party in 1986. Following Rapp’s statement, 19 more victims stepped forward accusing Spacey of different types of sexual assault over the course of 30 years.

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— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017

Shortly after the first of many accusations, Spacy addressed the issue in a statement on Twitter, claiming that he had no memory of the alleged incident while apologizing to Rapp for his ‘drunkenly’ behavior. In the same Twitter post, Spacey describes how he has had relationships with both men and women and that he at the current time chooses to live as a gay man, marking the first time the Oscar-winning actor clarifies his sexuality to the public.

None of Spacey’s alleged victims pressed charges until 2018, when charges were levied for sexually assaulting a teenager at a bar in Massachusetts in 2016. The case was dropped in 2019 during court proceedings when the plaintiff failed to provide sufficient evidence of wrongdoing.

While Spacey himself has faced at least 20 criminal accusations, the 61-year old actor has evaded criminal charges to this day. A civil lawsuit against the actor that alleged he sexually assaulted a teenager in the 1980s was expected to be dismissed after the victim refused to identify himself.

Lost an Emmy but striving for an Oscar

The Netflix show House of Cards, where the Julliard-trained actor played the main protagonist,  was cancelled amid the Rapp allegation in 2017.

The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences also announced shortly after the controversy that it was withdrawing Spacey’s eligibility from receiving the International Emmy Founders Award, which he was destined to win later that year.

But the awards might not be completely out of reach for the New Jersey-born actor, since L’Uomo che disegnò Dio’s director has expressed that he is optimistic about the movie and is aiming for an Oscar.

Regardless of the controversial past of a cast member, the Italian movie is receiving financial backing from both the Italian state broadcaster RAI and the culture ministry. L’Uomo che disegnò Dio is due to be shot in December 2021 and January 2022.