Paul Schrader’s Facebook feed is pure gold. The man just loves to give hot takes left and right about new and old films. For film buffs, it’s a must-follow. That said, not all of his takes are universally beloved. A couple of years ago, he posted quite a bit about Kevin Spacey, defending the actor against those who called him an abuser. (At the time, Kevin Spacey was deep in a legal battle, fighting against sexual assault claims.) Now, Schrader is doubling down on his Spacey love, as he said that he would gladly work with the actor on a future project.
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Speaking to The Independent, Paul Schrader was asked about the current state of “cancel culture.” This is a topic that Schrader has spoken about at length previously. It appears the filmmaker is heartened to see sexual assault claims getting scrutinized more in recent years versus the past where allegations led to automatic “cancelling.”
“There was a point in the #MeToo movement when if a woman accused a man of something, it was de facto true,” Schrader explained. “That has now swung back. If there is someone accusing [an actor of sexual assault], most women will say, ‘Let’s look into this and see what is there.’ [The accuser] is not automatically telling the truth.”
This then led to Kevin Spacey being brought up, since Schrader was one of the few Hollywood names to actually defend the actor during the allegations. Though Spacey was eventually not found guilty in court, there are still folks who consider the actor to be problematic, at best. This is why he’s not really finding much work in typical Hollywood productions today. That said, Schrader would gladly work with him on something.
“People responded as if I had said I would kick a homeless man,” Schrader says. “I mean, Kevin Spacey is a great actor. He won two Oscars. He was found not guilty. Why would I not work with him?”
Schrader isn’t wrong in claiming that Spacey escaped a criminal conviction recently. But that doesn’t fully paint the picture of the situation surrounding the actor. For years prior to the 2023 court case, there have been allegations surrounding supposed problematic behavior regarding Spacey. Though he was charged and went to trial for several alleged crimes, the issues that others have brought forth against him never reached a legal level. So, they are just that—allegations. But as we’ve seen, the allegations, especially when they come from multiple sources and multiple different altercations, do lead to many people getting blacklisted from Hollywood. And thus, Spacey might not be legally found guilty, but there is still quite a bit of controversy surrounding him.
But hey, if you’re Spacey, you’re probably trying to get on the phone with Schrader ASAP to see if you can show up in a future project.