Succession star Brian Cox says he feels it’s time Hollywood lets Kevin Spacey back on set.
‘I think he should be given the opportunity to come back to work,’ the Succession star, 78, told The Hollywood Reporter in an in-depth Q&A Monday.
The Dundee, Scotland native, who worked with Spacey, 65, three decades back on the 1994 Disney film Iron Will, said that the Oscar-winning performer is ‘a very fine actor’ who’s ‘been through it,’ seven years after a slew of sexual misconduct accusations derailed Spacey’s successful career.
‘I just think Kevin had certain things which he couldn’t or didn’t admit to, and I think it was a strain on him in many ways,’ the Emmy Award-winning actor said. ‘And for me, that was Kevin’s only difficulty.’
Among the professional repercussions Spacey faced amid the allegations included losing his lead role on the hit Netflix political drama House of Cards; and being digitally removed from the 2017 film All the Money in the World and replaced with the late Christopher Plummer.
‘He’s had the kicking that some people think he deserved,’ Cox said of Spacey. ‘He’s ready to get back in the saddle again, and people are trying to stop him from doing that.
Succession star Brian Cox, 78, says he feels it’s time Hollywood lets Kevin Spacey, 65, back on set, more than seven years after the Oscar-winner’s career was abruptly halted amid a slew of sexual misconduct allegations. Pictured in London earlier this month
‘And I really do go back to, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Maybe he got too out of hand, but I don’t think he should be punished endlessly for it. There should be a case of forgive and forget. Let’s move on.’
Cox, who’s been seen in movies such as Troy, Braveheart, The Bourne Identity, said he likes Spacey ‘a lot’ and thinks ‘he’s very funny.’
The comments from Cox, who portrayed media mogul Logan Roy on the critically-acclaimed HBO drama from 2018 until its 2023 conclusion, come more than seven months after Sharon Stone, 66, and Liam Neeson, 72, called for Spacey’s return to The Telegraph.
Stone – who faced controversy last month over her remarks about President-elect Donald Trump’s re-election – called Spacey ‘a genius’ and said she ‘can’t wait to see [him] back at work.’
The Casino actress added, ‘He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will.’
Neeson told the outlet of Spacey: ‘I was deeply saddened to learn of these accusations against him. Kevin is a good man and a man of character.’
Aside from his career coming to a screeching halt, Spacey has faced a series of legal and financial woes over the past seven years.
In June, his Baltimore luxury condo was auctioned off for $5.6 million amid a potential foreclosure on the residence.
Cox said of Spacey: ‘He’s had the kicking that some people think he deserved’
Cox portrayed the media mogul Logan Roy on the critically-acclaimed HBO drama Succession from 2018 until its 2023 conclusion
Spacey told Piers Morgan in June that he was in the red to the tune of millions, with massive legal bills draining him of his fortune.
In 2022, Spacey prevailed in litigation in New York City brought about by actor Anthony Rapp, 53, who said that Spacey, then 26, had sexually assaulted him in 1986 when he was 14.
A jury in New York City ruled in favor of Spacey in October of 2022 in the $40 million civil suit.
Spacey in July 2023 was acquitted in London in connection with sexual assault allegations from four different men going back decades.
Spacey wept while testifying in the case over the damage his career suffered as result of the pileup of allegations against him amid the #MeToo movement.
