In this week’s episode of the Australian chat show Interview, actor Guy Pearce made a suggestive comment about Kevin Spacey’s on-set behaviour in the context of the sexual abuse allegations that severely damaged Spacey’s film and television career last year.
When asked to speak of his experience working alongside Spacey in Curtis Hanson’s 1997 film LA Confidential, Pearce described his co-actor as an “amazing actor, incredible actor” before terming him “a handsy guy”.
Pearce added, “Thankfully, I was 29 and not 14.”
In October last year, actor Anthony Rapp revealed in an interview to Buzzfeed that Spacey had sexually assaulted him in 1986. Rapp said he was 14 at the time. In an apology posted on his Twitter profile, Spacey wrote that he did not remember the incident, and also publicly mentioned his homosexuality.
Spacey was admonished on social media and beyond for opting to deflect the outrage surrounding the alleged abuse of Rapp by talking about his sexual orientation.
Police in London and Los Angeles are currently investigating several allegations against the 58-year-old actor. These include an allegation of sexual assault in West Hollywood in 1992, and multiple complaints against the actor while he was the Old Vic theatre’s artistic director between 2004 and 2015.
Spacey was subsequently fired from the Netflix series House of Cards in November, and dropped from the cast of Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World (2017). His scenes were reshot with Christopher Plummer stepping in for Spacey. Plummer won an Academy Award nomination for his work in the film.