Kevin Spacey is back in career mode less than a month after a judge ruled in his favor in a $40 million sexual battery lawsuit filed by Anthony Rapp, this week beginning recording work as a blackmailing self-driving car in a forthcoming British indie thriller Control.
The quick return is a disheartening testament to the entrenched power dynamics that protect predators and abusers in the face of the unfathomable courage of victims and whistleblowers that choose to speak out despite very real threats of retribution.
Spacey, who still has more sexual assault charges pending in the UK, is set to play the disembodied voice of an autonomous smart car. The car is remotely hijacked by someone with intimate knowledge of its passenger's torrid secret and looks to seek revenge on her by trapping her. Spacey is set to star opposite Laurie Metcalf, who plays a British government minister engaged in a scandalous affair with the Prime Minister (Mark Hampton) in the forthcoming flick, which is written and directed by Gene Fallaize.
Main production for Control is expected to pick up early next, though Spacey is reported to be finishing up his lines this week. Fallaize attempted to justify the controversial casting choice to Variety by saying that, having "[grown] up" with the actor, he had always written the role with him in mind. Spacey's contentious legal status and negative public perception was apparently taken into "consideration" but ultimately didn't factor in as "a concern."
“He’s one of the greatest actors of our generation,” Fallaize tells Variety. “His personal life aside — it’s something I can’t comment on and have no knowledge of — it’s an opportunity to work with one of the acting greats.”
Spacey is currently facing a dozen or so counts of sexual assault in the British court system. Spacey has pleaded not guilty to five charges leveled by three separate men, with an additional seven additional sexual offenses stemming from another complaint filed earlier this month. The UK trial is expected to start next summer.
Photo via Getty/ Alexi Rosenfeld
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