Embattled actor Kevin Spacey lauded in Italy for achievement

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Actor Kevin Spacey smiles as he arrives at the Cinema Massimo in Turin, Italy, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. Kevin Spacey was in the northern Italian city of Turin on Monday to receive the lifetime achievement award, teach a master class and introduce a screening of the 1999 film "American Beauty." (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

TURIN ā€“ Making his first speaking appearance since #MeToo-era allegations derailed his career, actor Kevin Spacey used a colorful Italian term to thank the National Cinema Museum in the northern city of Turin Monday for having the courage to invite him.

Spacey received a lifetime achievement award from the museum, discussed key roles during a master class and then introduced the 1999 film ā€œAmerican Beauty,ā€™ā€™ for which he won his second acting Oscar, to a sold-out crowd.

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ā€œI am truly blessed and grateful and humbled. And my heart is very full tonight toward the National Museum of Cinema for having had the ā€œle palleā€ to invite me tonight,ā€™ā€™ Spacey said, using the Italian word for a male body part synonymous with courage, to cheers from the master class audience.

ā€œBy presenting this award, they are making a strong defense of artistic achievement and for that they should be applauded,ā€™ā€™ Spacey said.

Previous winners of the Stella della Mole Award include actors Isabella Rossellini and Monica Bellucci, and director Dario Argento.

The sold-out events were billed as Spaceyā€™s first speaking engagements in five years. After multiple allegations of sexual assault surfaced, the actor lost his starring role on the Netflix series ā€œHouse of Cardsā€ and saw other opportunities dry up.

Spacey did not directly address the allegations while accepting the award or during the hourlong class. But while noting the loyalty of many fans, he said ā€œthe bond I share with them will not be easily broken by unrestrained, ever-shifting mobocratic ties.ā€

He choked up as he thanked his manager Evan Lowenstein for his support, calling him ā€œthe brother I never had.ā€

Spacey said he was also ā€œenormously gratefulā€ to Italian director Frank Nero, who hired him for a role in ā€œThe Man Who Drew God,ā€ which was filmed in Turin. Spacey will be on hand when the film will be previewed later this week in Rome.

After the master class, fans lined up to take selfies and get DVDs signed.

ā€œI actually missed him, and I think he had a great role in the cinema. He made Netflix what it is today,ā€™ā€™ said Chiara Ottolini, referring to the enormous success of ā€œHouse of Cards.ā€ ā€œI am so happy to see that he is coming back, because we have to separate the man and the artist.ā€™ā€™

Mery Bicci traveled from Milan to see Spacey, who she regards as one of the best actors ever. She said she would have traveled even further.

ā€œWhen the scandal happened, I went into mourning because I knew very well that they would ostracize him right away,ā€™ā€™ she said.

Spacey is scheduled to go on trial in London in June on a dozen charges alleging he sexually assaulted four men between 2001 and 2013, including when he was the artistic director at the cityā€™s Old Vic theater. He has pleaded not guilty.

In October, a federal jury in a New York civil case found that Spacey, 63, did not sexually abuse actor Anthony Rapp when both were relatively unknown Broadway actors in 1986 and Rapp was 14 years old. The jurors deliberated a little more than an hour before deciding that Rapp, now 50, hadnā€™t proven his allegations.

Spacey previously faced allegations in Massachusetts that he groped a man at a bar. Prosecutors later dropped the charges.

A judge in Los Angeles in August approved an arbitratorā€™s decision to order Spacey to pay $30.9 million to the makers of ā€œHouse of Cardsā€ for violating his contract by sexually harassing crew members.

Elena Cortini, a university design student who was seeing ā€œAmerican Beautyā€ for the second time, said she didnā€™t know what to make about the allegations, and preferred to focus on the craftsmanship in the 1999 film.

ā€œIf he is putting his life back together as he said, good for him,ā€™ā€™ she said.


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