The producer of an upcoming film starring Kevin Spacey has defended casting the disgraced actor following allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.
In a decidedly ironic twist, Kevin Spacey is set to play a sex abuse investigator in L’uomo Che Disegno Dio, the new film from Italian actor and director Franco Nero.
In a statement obtained by CNN, the film’s producer Louis Nero defended the decision by saying he thinks the allegations made against Kevin Spacey are “false.”
“I cast him because he is a great actor,” he added.
Meanwhile, Franco Nero echoed Louis’ sentiments, telling ABC News: “I’m very happy Kevin agreed to participate in my film. I consider him a great actor and I can’t wait to start the movie.”
Spacey has so far declined requests to comment from media organisations like ABC News and Variety.
As reported by Filmitalia, the low-budget indie film will follow the “rise and fall of a blind artist who has the extraordinary gift of making true-to-life portraits just by listening to human voices.”
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Spacey’s casting will mark his first film appearance since several sexual assault and misconduct allegations were made against him.
Actor Anthony Rapp first accused Spacey of making sexual advances to him in 1986, when he was just 14 years old. As a result, numerous other claims followed.
He was removed from his starring role in Netflix’s House of Cards after the accusations went public in November 2018. On top of that, he was edited out of Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World and replaced by the late Christoper Plummer.
From there, his last film role was in 2018’s Billionaire Boys Club, which reportedly bombed at the box office.
Spacey has denied all of the allegations.
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