MOVIE NEWS – Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey’s efforts to rehabilitate his image after multiple sexual harassment allegations have gained momentum.

According to Variety, Kevin Spacey will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Teatro Antico theatre in Taormina, Sicily. It is awarded as part of the Prize of Nations, organized by Michel Curatolo and Marco Fallanca, together with the Senate of the Italian Republic and the Italian Regions. Other controversial figures have won this award before. Among them are film director Abel Ferrara and actor Gérard Depardieu, who is accused of rape and sexual harassment in his home country of France.

“Kevin Spacey is a timeless monument of the history of cinema and the theatre, who unquestionably deserves to have his career back,” said Curatolo and Fallanca in their statement.

“Every day both the public and industry miss his unbounded talent, and we are extremely proud to be by the side of this extraordinary artist.” The award ceremony will take place on July 21 as part of a series of events in Taormina. The celebration is unrelated to the annual Taormina Film Festival, which ends two days earlier.

Spacey is trying to restore his reputation after several legal cases, including sexual harassment allegations made against him by various men dating back decades. The two-time Oscar-winning actor was found not guilty in a 2022 trial in New York. This was brought up by his co-star, Anthony Rapp. He was also acquitted in a separate sexual assault case involving five men in London last year. However, Spacey faces another civil trial in Britain starting in 2025 after being charged with another assault.

When Spacey became one of the main characters of the “Me Too” movement, Netflix dropped him after his success in the hit series House of Cards, which the actor still hasn’t recovered from.

His career has slowly regained momentum recently. In 2022, he was cast as a police detective in The Man Who Drew God. He then received a dubbing role in the 2023 film Control. Most recently, he starred in the neo-noir thriller Peter Five Eight, released in March.

Kevin Spacey also appears in an upcoming Italian thriller

Spacey recently joined the forthcoming Italian thriller The Contract. In this, he will play the devil himself. Meanwhile, Spacey will be the guest of honour at the Golden Apricot Film Festival in Armenia, which has sparked controversy in the country. The festival runs from July 7 to July 14.

Source: Variety