Kevin Spacey seems to be slowly making his comeback. Last month the sexual assault charges filed against him in Massachusetts were dropped. The Oscar-winning actor is still under investigation for cases in London and Los Angeles, but he apparently still felt comfortable enough to make his first public appearance, albeit a small one.
As per Deadline, Spacey appeared at the National Roman Museum in Rome, where he read a poem by Italian poet Gabriele Tinti with the English title of “The Boxer.” The poem concerns a once-mighty pugilist who’s been cast away from society.
“They used me for their entertainment, fed on shoddy stuff. Life was over in a moment,” goes Tinti’s poem. “I shook the country, made the arenas vibrate, tore my opponents to shreds. I lit up the darkness, collected insults, compelled applause. Not everyone knew how to do this. None of you. On the other hand, life is not frightening for those who have never taken a risk.”
It’s not hard to divine Spacey’s reasons for choosing the poem. The actor (and sometime director) has not been subtle about feeling unfairly punished for his accusations he claims are untrue. Last winter he even recorded a video in the guise of Frank Underwood, his mendacious House of Cards character, alleging that people really miss both Frank and Spacey himself.
Though Spacey was playing to a relatively small audience, he alerted the media about his little performance, and made sure video was uploaded to the internet, so the world could see him recite the poem. You can watch it above. And again, two of the charges against him have not been dropped.
(Via Deadline)