(London) Two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, whose acting career was cut short by allegations of sexual assault, will stand trial in London this week, facing sex charges against four men at the United Kingdom.
Spacey, 63, faces a dozen charges, including sexual assault, indecent assault and inciting someone to engage in penetrative sexual activity without their consent.
The actor has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, which relate to alleged acts between 2001 and 2013.
At a previous hearing, Spacey’s attorney said the actor “vigorously denies” the charges. He added that he would face the UK court to establish his innocence and “get on with his life”.
His jury trial at Southwark Crown Court opens on Wednesday and is expected to last four weeks.
Kevin Spacey spent more than a decade living in the UK, where he was artistic director of the Old Vic Theater from 2004 to 2015. He was a leading figure in London, starring in productions such as Richard III by William Shakespeare and David Mamet’s Speed-The-Plow. He had also organized fundraising events for the 200-year-old theater.
Spacey was questioned by British police in 2019 over claims by several men that he assaulted them. He was charged in May 2022 with five counts against three alleged victims. Seven other charges, all brought by a fourth man, were added in November.
The artist, who has addresses in Britain and the United States, was released unconditionally pending trial.
Beginning in the 1990s, Kevin Spacey became one of the most famous actors of his generation, starring in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross and LA Confidential. He won Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 1995’s The Usual Suspects and Best Actor Oscar for 1999’s American Beauty.
When allegations emerged in the United States during the movement
Spacey is adamant that his career is not over. After several years, he made his return to the cinema in The Man Who Drew God by Italian director Franco Nero. He also played the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in the biopic Once Upon a Time in Croatia. He also appears in an unreleased American film, Peter Five Eight.
In January, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Museum of Italian Cinema in Turin. He also taught a masterclass and presented a sold-out screening of American Beauty.
On that occasion, Spacey praised the organizers for “strongly advocating for artistic achievement”.
He recently told German magazine Zeit in a rare interview that the media had turned him into a “monster”.
“There are people right now who are ready to hire me as soon as I’m cleared of these charges in London,” he added.