Kevin Spacey got here out swinging towards Man Pearce Tuesday after the Australian actor claimed he was “targeted” by the Oscar winner with sexually “aggressive” habits whereas the 2 labored collectively on the set of the 1997 movie “L.A. Confidential.”
In a video shared on X, Spacey took difficulty with Pearce elevating such considerations practically 30 years later, after he’s already been “through hell and back” — his obvious reference to being accused by a number of males of sexual misconduct since 2017 however scoring victories towards a few of these allegations in civil and prison trials. “I mean, you want to have a conversation,” an indignant, combative Spacey stated. “I’m happy to do so … But Guy, you need to grow up. You are not a victim.”
However in defending himself, Spacey, 65, appeared to lend credence to Pearce’s characterization of him as “an aggressive” man who could possibly be able to “targeting” somebody. This characterization got here in Pearce’s interview this week on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. In a dialog with editor Scott Feinberg, an emotional and reflective Pearce acquired choked up, recalling his disagreeable expertise working with Spacey, as the 2 performed Nineteen Fifties Los Angeles cops within the basic neo-noir movie.
“Really, I was sort of scared of Kevin because he’s quite an aggressive man,” stated the 57-year-old Pearce, who’s at present nominated for a greatest supporting actor Oscar for his efficiency in “The Brutalist.” In that movie, because it occurs, Pearce performs a controlling, rich Nineteen Fifties industrialist with anger points.
“He’s extremely charming and brilliant at what he does — really impressive, etc.,” the Australian actor stated about Spacey. “He holds a room remarkably. But I was young and susceptible, and he targeted me, no question.”
Opposite to what Spacey stated in his video, Pearce stated this isn’t the primary time he has addressed having a “slightly difficult time with Kevin” whereas filming “L.A. Confidential” in 1996. In a 2018 interview in Australia, Pearce referred to as Spacey “a handsy guy,” CNN reported.
Pearce’s 2018 feedback got here after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct by a number of males on the peak of the #MeToo motion, together with by actor Anthony Rapp, who alleged that Spacey molested him when he was 14 years outdated. In that 2018 interview, Pearce equally complimented Spacey as an “amazing,” “incredible actor,” however he stated, “Thankfully I was 29 and not 14.”
Pearce subsequently clarified his feedback about Spacey in a press release to CNN, saying that he was not “sexually assaulted or molested.” However he stated, “I was made to feel uncomfortable. I addressed and handled the situation when it took place, hence my regret at making it public now.”
In talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Pearce likewise acknowledged that he was not sexually assaulted or molested by Spacey.
“I don’t wanna use the word ‘victim’ because even though I probably was a victim to a degree, I was certainly not a victim by any means to the extent that other people have been to sexual predators,” Pearce stated. “But I did that thing that you do where you brush it off and you go ‘Oh haha no, that’s nothing.’”
Whereas filming “L.A. Confidential,” Pearce was in Los Angeles along with his then-wife, Kate. He recalled telling her that “the only days I feel safe are the days when (Australian co-star Simon Baker) is on set because I’m dumped like a hot potato, and (Kevin) focuses on [Simon) because he was 10 times prettier than I am.”
Pearce instructed Feinberg that it took many years for him to course of what occurred with Spacey. However he started to take action after different males got here ahead to talk up about their experiences with Spacey through the #MeToo motion. Spacey, the truth is, was hit with a wave of allegations, extending from movie units and manufacturing areas to the Outdated Vic Theatre, the place the actor had served because the artist director, in accordance with The Hollywood Reporter.
Pearce stated he caught the headlines concerning the Spacey allegations whereas he was working in London. “I heard (the reports) and I broke down and sobbed, and I couldn’t stop,” he instructed The Hollywood Reporter. “I think it really dawned on me the impact that had occurred and how I sort of brushed it off and how I had either shelved it or blocked it out or whatever. That was a really incredible wake-up call.”
Additionally opposite to Spacey’s declare that Pearce by no means spoke to him about habits, Pearce stated he has since “had a couple of confrontations with Kevin” that “got ugly.”
In his video, Spacey stated that Pearce visited him in Georgia, a couple of yr after engaged on “L.A. Confidential.” Spacey stated Pearce got here to Georgia, whereas he was filming “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” “just to spend time with me.”
“I apologize that I didn’t get the message that you don’t like spending time with me,” Spacey stated. “Maybe there was another reason, I don’t know, but that doesn’t make any sense. That you would have just been leading me on, right? But here you are now on a mission, some 28 years later, after I’ve been through hell and back.”
To the Hollywood Reporter, Pearce stated he didn’t wish to focus an excessive amount of in interviews on his private expertise with Spacey and but, “I don’t want him to get away with what he gets away with.”
Pearce’s feedback about Spacey little question come at a tough time for the “House of Cards” actor. On one hand, he has obtained assist prior to now yr from stars like Sharon Stone and Liam Neeson, who’ve gone public with their beliefs that he was a sufferer of a #MeToo-era witch hunt and must be allowed to renew his Hollywood profession.
“I can’t wait to see Kevin back at work,” Stone stated in a 2024 interview with The Telegraph. “He is a genius. He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will.”
Spacey was successfully blacklisted by the movie and theater business after the allegations towards him first surfaced, beginning with Rapp’s claims, stemming from an incident at Spacey’s Manhattan condo within the Nineteen Eighties. Amongst different issues, Spacey was fired from the hit Netflix collection “House of Cards” and from Ridley Scott’s 2017 movie “All the Money in the World.” However Spacey scored some victories. When Rapp’s lawsuit went to trial in New York in 2022, a civil jury sided with Spacey, discovering that he didn’t molest the younger actor, NPR reported. Spacey was additionally cleared of all costs in a 2023 prison trial in London, coping with sexual assault allegations made by 4 different males, CNN reported.
However Spacey has different challenges, PR consultants and folks within the movie business stated final yr. For one factor, he constructed his profession on taking part in “creepy,” “sleazy,” or “sinister” characters onscreen, together with his Academy Award-winning function in “American Beauty.” The Telegraph additionally reported in October 2023 that Spacey’s popularity has been so broken by the controversy that there’s most likely no easy means for him to renew his movie and TV profession. He additionally stays “unpopular” with some within the leisure business for the way in which he got here out as homosexual in response to the preliminary assault allegations made by Rapp, The Telegraph additionally stated.
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