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In early 2010, Spacey went to China to star in writer-director Dayyan Eng's black comedy film Inseparable, becoming the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film. In 2011, Spacey starred in J.C. Chandor's financial thriller Margin Call alongside Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The story at large takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the 2008 financial crisis. The film, which focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse, made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Spacey received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award along with the cast. That same year, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office.

On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, adapted from a 1990 BBC political drama of the same name. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy-nominated from a web television series. Spacey went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. He was fired from the series after the fifth season following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

In 2013 he executive-produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey portrayed the antagonist Jonathan Irons in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture. He starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016), which is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested that Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016. Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions. When he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, he imitated (at host James Lipton's request) Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino. On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Spacey admitted to using his vocal skills as a young actor in New York City to pretend to be Carson's son to obtain free theatre tickets and to enter Studio 54.

In January 2016 it was announced that Relativity Media, which was just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had acquired Trigger Street Productions and that Spacey would become chairman of Relativity Studios, while Dana Brunetti would become the studio's president. Spacey called the move "an incredible opportunity to make great entertainment" and said he considered it the "next evolution in my career". However, when the paperwork for the studio was filed for the court, it emerged that Spacey had opted out of assuming the chairmanship of the studios, and by the end of 2016 Brunetti had also left Relativity, while both remained executive producers on House of Cards and Manifesto.

On June 16, 2016, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre, arts education, and international culture in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours. The honour, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was given at Clarence House by then-Prince Charles. As a non-Commonwealth Realm citizen, the award is honorary and he is not entitled to the honorific "Sir". Spacey had previously been awarded the lesser rank of honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama in 2010. Spacey was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

2017–present: Career controversy and comeback attempts

=================

In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in ten days over the summer of 2017. But because of the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, it was announced on November 8, 2017, that all of his footage would be excised, and that Christopher Plummer would replace him in reshoots. Despite the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release. Spacey appeared in the film Billionaire Boys Club, which had a limited release on August 17, 2018. Vertical Entertainment stated that it would take no action to remove Spacey from the film, as it had been completed in late 2016, before the allegations made in October 2017. They released a statement which read in part, "We don't condone sexual harassment on any level and we fully support victims of it. At the same time, this is neither an easy nor insensitive decision to release this film in theatres, but we believe in giving the cast, as well as hundreds of crew members who worked hard on the film, the chance to see their final product reach audiences." Following the allegations leveled against him, Spacey maintained a lower profile and his career stalled.

In May 2021, it was announced that he had been cast in a supporting role as a police detective in the crime drama film The Man Who Drew God, directed by and starring Franco Nero, which is about a blind artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child. The film reunited Spacey with Faye Dunaway, whom he directed in Albino Alligator. In August 2021, Spacey was reportedly filming in California for a small production, Peter Five Eight, in which he plays a "charismatic" serial killer.

On November 3, 2022, Variety reported that Spacey was set to speak at the National Museum of Cinema and was going to receive a lifetime achievement award on January 16, 2023, despite the allegations against him. On November 28, 2022, after winning a sexual battery lawsuit against him filed by Anthony Rapp, Spacey was cast in the British indie thriller Control. Its director, Gene Fallaize, dismissed concerns about working with Spacey. In 2022, Spacey was cast as the late Croatian leader Franjo Tuđman in the political drama Once Upon a Time in Croatia, directed by Jakov Sedlar. In 2024, notable industry members such as actors Sharon Stone, Liam Neeson, F. Murray Abraham, and Stephen Fry, film director Paul Schrader and theatre director Trevor Nunn vocally supported Spacey's attempts to return to acting.

The film Peter Five Eight, released in 2024, marks Spacey's return to a major role after his legal troubles. In the same year, he starred in The Contract, an Italian production, with Eric Roberts.

In November 2025, Spacey performed a cabaret show titled Songs & Stories at the Parklane Resort in Limassol, Cyprus. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph regarding the performance, Spacey stated that he was "living in hotels" and performing where he could find work due to his financial situation following his legal battles. In December 2025, Spacey starred in an Italian comedy television series titled Minimarket on RaiPlay.

Acting credits and accolades

=================

Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Screen Actors Guild Awards and a British Academy Film Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award and for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999 and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.

Personal life

=================

Sexuality and relationships

=================

Spacey briefly dated American actress April Winchell after she graduated high school in the early 1980s. An article in The Sunday Times Magazine in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in Esquire magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling Playboy and other interviewers that he was not gay, and by telling Lesley White of The Sunday Times:

I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.

In 1999, reports suggested that Spacey was dating a script supervisor named Dianne Dreyer, with their relationship possibly dating back to 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey said, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you." In 2007, Gotham magazine quoted Spacey saying:

I've never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity. Although I might be interested in doing it, I will never do it. People can gossip all they want; they can speculate all they want. I just happen to believe that there's a separation between the public life and the private life. Everybody has the right to a private life no matter what their professions are.

In 2017, Spacey came out as gay in a statement denying a sexual misconduct allegation.

Political views and activism

=================

Spacey is a Democrat and has been described as left-leaning, with his political views mirroring those of his fictional character in House of Cards. Spacey worked on Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign.

He is a friend of former President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey once described Clinton as "one of the shining lights" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.

Spacey has undertaken activism in the domain of HIV/AIDS. In 2002, he and fellow actor Chris Tucker accompanied Bill Clinton on a trip throughout several African countries to promote AIDS awareness on the continent. The trip gained renewed attention in 2019 amidst the sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein, whose plane was used. Spacey also participated in several fundraisers for HIV/AIDS healthcare, including amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in 2016 and the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2017.

Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in September 2007 but never spoke to the press about their encounter. During the trip, he visited the Venezuelan film studio Villa del Cine. In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey joined Jude Law in a street protest in London against Lukashenko's regime.

In October 2008, Spacey started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the UK to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.

In September 2006, Spacey said that he intended to take up British citizenship when it is offered to him. When asked about the UK's 2016 European Union membership referendum, Spacey replied, "I appreciate you asking me the question, but I am not a British citizen; I am a resident of Great Britain. And I have never in my twelve years ever gotten involved in politics in Great Britain. I think it's inappropriate for me as a, really as a guest, in Great Britain, so I'll leave that to the British people."

In May 2024, Spacey endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was running as an independent, in the 2024 United States presidential election. In December 2024, Spacey visited the Israel–Gaza border and toured areas impacted by Hamas' 2023 October 7 attacks. He was accompanied by pro-Israel journalist Douglas Murray. Spacey was reportedly visiting the daughter of a friend, who is serving in the Israel Defence Forces.

In July 2025, Spacey called for the release of the Epstein files, stating, "For those of us with nothing to fear, the truth can't come soon enough." When some of the files were released in December 2025, Spacey himself was present in some photographs.

Sexual misconduct allegations

=================

In 2017, Spacey faced several allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment. On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp was the first to accuse Spacey of sexual misconduct. In the following weeks, other accusers came forward, including actor Roberto Cavazos, filmmaker Tony Montana, Richard Dreyfuss's son Harry, and at least eight people who worked on House of Cards.

In the wake of these claims, Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his biopic of Gore Vidal and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His completed role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer. Spacey has denied the accusations and was found not liable in a 2022 civil lawsuit filed by Rapp in New York. In a separate criminal case in London, he was acquitted by a jury of sexual assault charges in 2023.

In 2024, Spacey was forced to foreclose on his house in Baltimore, Maryland due to income loss following the allegations against him.

Albums

=================

-
Beyond the Sea: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2004)

Singles

=================

-
"That Old Black Magic" (1997, from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack)

Live performances

=================

-
"Mind Games" – Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music – October 2, 2001, Radio City Music Hall, New York City

=================

In early 2010, Spacey went to China to star in writer-director Dayyan Eng's black comedy film Inseparable, becoming the first Hollywood actor to star in a fully Chinese-funded film. In 2011, Spacey starred in J.C. Chandor's financial thriller Margin Call alongside Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The story at large takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the 2008 financial crisis. The film, which focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse, made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Spacey received the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award along with the cast. That same year, Spacey co-starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, which grossed over $209.6 million at the box office.

On March 18, 2011, it was announced that Spacey was cast as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, adapted from a 1990 BBC political drama of the same name. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013, becoming the first lead actor to be Primetime Emmy-nominated from a web television series. Spacey went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards for his season 2 performance. He was fired from the series after the fifth season following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

In 2013 he executive-produced the biographical survival thriller film Captain Phillips, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey portrayed the antagonist Jonathan Irons in the 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare through motion capture. He starred as President Richard Nixon in the comedy-drama Elvis & Nixon (2016), which is based on the meeting that took place between Nixon and singer Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in December 1970 wherein Presley requested that Nixon swear him in as an undercover agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He next starred in the comedy film Nine Lives, as a man trapped in the body of a cat. The film was released on August 5, 2016. Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions. When he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio, he imitated (at host James Lipton's request) Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino. On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Spacey admitted to using his vocal skills as a young actor in New York City to pretend to be Carson's son to obtain free theatre tickets and to enter Studio 54.

In January 2016 it was announced that Relativity Media, which was just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had acquired Trigger Street Productions and that Spacey would become chairman of Relativity Studios, while Dana Brunetti would become the studio's president. Spacey called the move "an incredible opportunity to make great entertainment" and said he considered it the "next evolution in my career". However, when the paperwork for the studio was filed for the court, it emerged that Spacey had opted out of assuming the chairmanship of the studios, and by the end of 2016 Brunetti had also left Relativity, while both remained executive producers on House of Cards and Manifesto.

On June 16, 2016, Spacey was awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to theatre, arts education, and international culture in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours. The honour, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was given at Clarence House by then-Prince Charles. As a non-Commonwealth Realm citizen, the award is honorary and he is not entitled to the honorific "Sir". Spacey had previously been awarded the lesser rank of honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama in 2010. Spacey was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. He also sits on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

2017–present: Career controversy and comeback attempts

=================

In March 2017, it was announced that Spacey would portray J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. He shot his role in the film in ten days over the summer of 2017. But because of the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, it was announced on November 8, 2017, that all of his footage would be excised, and that Christopher Plummer would replace him in reshoots. Despite the very tight schedule, TriStar Pictures completed the new version of the film in time for a December 25 release. Spacey appeared in the film Billionaire Boys Club, which had a limited release on August 17, 2018. Vertical Entertainment stated that it would take no action to remove Spacey from the film, as it had been completed in late 2016, before the allegations made in October 2017. They released a statement which read in part, "We don't condone sexual harassment on any level and we fully support victims of it. At the same time, this is neither an easy nor insensitive decision to release this film in theatres, but we believe in giving the cast, as well as hundreds of crew members who worked hard on the film, the chance to see their final product reach audiences." Following the allegations leveled against him, Spacey maintained a lower profile and his career stalled.

In May 2021, it was announced that he had been cast in a supporting role as a police detective in the crime drama film The Man Who Drew God, directed by and starring Franco Nero, which is about a blind artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child. The film reunited Spacey with Faye Dunaway, whom he directed in Albino Alligator. In August 2021, Spacey was reportedly filming in California for a small production, Peter Five Eight, in which he plays a "charismatic" serial killer.

On November 3, 2022, Variety reported that Spacey was set to speak at the National Museum of Cinema and was going to receive a lifetime achievement award on January 16, 2023, despite the allegations against him. On November 28, 2022, after winning a sexual battery lawsuit against him filed by Anthony Rapp, Spacey was cast in the British indie thriller Control. Its director, Gene Fallaize, dismissed concerns about working with Spacey. In 2022, Spacey was cast as the late Croatian leader Franjo Tuđman in the political drama Once Upon a Time in Croatia, directed by Jakov Sedlar. In 2024, notable industry members such as actors Sharon Stone, Liam Neeson, F. Murray Abraham, and Stephen Fry, film director Paul Schrader and theatre director Trevor Nunn vocally supported Spacey's attempts to return to acting.

The film Peter Five Eight, released in 2024, marks Spacey's return to a major role after his legal troubles. In the same year, he starred in The Contract, an Italian production, with Eric Roberts.

In November 2025, Spacey performed a cabaret show titled Songs & Stories at the Parklane Resort in Limassol, Cyprus. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph regarding the performance, Spacey stated that he was "living in hotels" and performing where he could find work due to his financial situation following his legal battles. In December 2025, Spacey starred in an Italian comedy television series titled Minimarket on RaiPlay.

Acting credits and accolades

=================

Spacey has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Screen Actors Guild Awards and a British Academy Film Award. He was nominated for a Grammy Award and for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999 and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.

Personal life

=================

Sexuality and relationships

=================

Spacey briefly dated American actress April Winchell after she graduated high school in the early 1980s. An article in The Sunday Times Magazine in 1999 stated that Spacey's "love affair with acting, and the absence of a visible partner in the life of an attractive 40-year-old, has resulted in Esquire magazine asserting two years ago that he must be gay". Spacey responded to the rumors by telling Playboy and other interviewers that he was not gay, and by telling Lesley White of The Sunday Times:

I chose for a long time not to answer these questions because of the manner in which they were asked, and because I was never talking to someone I trusted, so why should I? Recently I chose to participate because it's a little hard on the people I love.

In 1999, reports suggested that Spacey was dating a script supervisor named Dianne Dreyer, with their relationship possibly dating back to 1992. In 2000, Spacey brought Dreyer to the Academy Awards; during the acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, Spacey said, "Dianne, thank you for teaching me about caring about the right things, and I love you." In 2007, Gotham magazine quoted Spacey saying:

I've never believed in pimping my personal life out for publicity. Although I might be interested in doing it, I will never do it. People can gossip all they want; they can speculate all they want. I just happen to believe that there's a separation between the public life and the private life. Everybody has the right to a private life no matter what their professions are.

In 2017, Spacey came out as gay in a statement denying a sexual misconduct allegation.

Political views and activism

=================

Spacey is a Democrat and has been described as left-leaning, with his political views mirroring those of his fictional character in House of Cards. Spacey worked on Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign.

He is a friend of former President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey once described Clinton as "one of the shining lights" in the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton Administration for the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.

Spacey has undertaken activism in the domain of HIV/AIDS. In 2002, he and fellow actor Chris Tucker accompanied Bill Clinton on a trip throughout several African countries to promote AIDS awareness on the continent. The trip gained renewed attention in 2019 amidst the sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein, whose plane was used. Spacey also participated in several fundraisers for HIV/AIDS healthcare, including amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in 2016 and the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2017.

Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in September 2007 but never spoke to the press about their encounter. During the trip, he visited the Venezuelan film studio Villa del Cine. In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey joined Jude Law in a street protest in London against Lukashenko's regime.

In October 2008, Spacey started the Kevin Spacey Foundation in the UK to encourage youth involvement in the arts. Headquartered in England and Wales, its purpose was to provide grants to individuals and organizations to help young people study the arts, particularly theatre. The charity shut down in February 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey.

In September 2006, Spacey said that he intended to take up British citizenship when it is offered to him. When asked about the UK's 2016 European Union membership referendum, Spacey replied, "I appreciate you asking me the question, but I am not a British citizen; I am a resident of Great Britain. And I have never in my twelve years ever gotten involved in politics in Great Britain. I think it's inappropriate for me as a, really as a guest, in Great Britain, so I'll leave that to the British people."

In May 2024, Spacey endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was running as an independent, in the 2024 United States presidential election. In December 2024, Spacey visited the Israel–Gaza border and toured areas impacted by Hamas' 2023 October 7 attacks. He was accompanied by pro-Israel journalist Douglas Murray. Spacey was reportedly visiting the daughter of a friend, who is serving in the Israel Defence Forces.

In July 2025, Spacey called for the release of the Epstein files, stating, "For those of us with nothing to fear, the truth can't come soon enough." When some of the files were released in December 2025, Spacey himself was present in some photographs.

Sexual misconduct allegations

=================

In 2017, Spacey faced several allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment. On October 29, 2017, actor Anthony Rapp was the first to accuse Spacey of sexual misconduct. In the following weeks, other accusers came forward, including actor Roberto Cavazos, filmmaker Tony Montana, Richard Dreyfuss's son Harry, and at least eight people who worked on House of Cards.

In the wake of these claims, Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his biopic of Gore Vidal and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His completed role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer. Spacey has denied the accusations and was found not liable in a 2022 civil lawsuit filed by Rapp in New York. In a separate criminal case in London, he was acquitted by a jury of sexual assault charges in 2023.

In 2024, Spacey was forced to foreclose on his house in Baltimore, Maryland due to income loss following the allegations against him.

Albums

=================

-

Beyond the Sea: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2004)

Singles

=================

-

"That Old Black Magic" (1997, from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil soundtrack)

Live performances

=================

-

"Mind Games" – Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music – October 2, 2001, Radio City Music Hall, New York City