The idea of how long it should take for someone who is the subject of misconduct accusations to come back to their career in Hollywood is a touchy subject. Some of the people that have been accused of sexual misconduct (but haven’t been put on trial) have been content with just fading into the background and not trying to revive their careers. Then you have others, such as filmmakers like Woody Allen and Roman Polanski, who have retreated to Europe to continue making features.
And then there’s Kevin Spacey, an Oscar-winning actor that has been accused (but never convicted) of sexual assault and seemingly blacklisted by Hollywood. Since his exile, Spacey has continued to stoke the fires of outrage by releasing yearly videos where he’s clearly agitated by his current situation and seemingly doesn’t feel like he has to apologize for much of anything. Well, it appears now, according to ABC News, the actor is following the Allen/Polanski method of going to Europe to continue his career.
A recent ABC News report claims Spacey is set to star in a new Italian film, titled “The Man Who Drew God,” by filmmaker Franco Nero. The film is expected to begin production in Italy shortly and will also star the filmmaker’s wife, Vanessa Redgrave. Clearly, the news that Spacey is beginning to revive his career was met with some criticisms from film fans who aren’t happy that the actor is getting a second chance. However, Spacey does have one Hollywood legend defending his comeback—Paul Schrader.
In a post on Facebook, Schrader wrote, “About time. If he’s guilty of a crime, incarcerate him. If not, let him act. Many great artists have been bad people.”
No matter what you feel about Spacey’s situation or Schrader’s reaction, you can’t call the latter inconsistent. Back in 2018, during the biggest outrage regarding Spacey, Schrader posted a comment on social media that also made headlines.
Schrader said, “I believe there are crimes in life but no crimes in art. Spacey should be punished for any crimes his actual person created. But not for art. All art is a crime. Punishing him as an artist only diminishes art. Put Celine in jail, put Pound in jail, punish Wilde and Bruce if you must, but do not censor their art.”
So, it’s not at all shocking that Schrader is just reiterating his point in his latest post. Whether or not this means Spacey is going to have a revived career and be welcomed back by Hollywood is still to be determined. But for now, it appears he’s found refuge in Europe.