Kevin Spacey thanks the Italian Cinema Museum for the “Ballsy” invitation; Tips for Jack Lemmon, Bryan Singer and David Fincher

Oscar winner Kevin Spacey made an emotional return to the public eye on Monday night with a special tribute event hosted by the Italian National Film Museum in the northern Italian city of Turin and attended by Deadline.

For the actor, who has kept a low profile since a spate of sexual misconduct allegations derailed his career in 2017, the evening marked his first major public appearance in more than five years.

“My heart is very much filled with the Museum of Cinema because they have the ‘palle’ (balls) to invite me tonight,” he said to applause as he accepted the museum’s Mole Antonelliana Lifetime Achievement Award.

He thanked the director of the museum Domenico De Gaetano and the head of international relations Marco Fallanca for organizing the event.

“By receiving this award, they are vigorously defending their artistic achievement and for that they should be applauded,” he said.

Around 400 guests gathered in the vast atrium of Turin’s architectural landmark Mole Antonelliana, which houses the cinema museum, including a group of friends who had traveled to Italy to support the actor.

“I just want to say how grateful I am to my friends and my colleagues and the friends and colleagues of my friends who flew here tonight… I’m touched that you’re all here,” he said.

Spacey paid special tribute to manager Evan Lowenstein, who was also in attendance.

“There’s one person I have to point out tonight because when you have a best friend like me in Evan Lowenstein, life can be pretty special and every challenge is worth taking on. Evan gives me so much advice, counsel, perspective,” he said.

“It’s almost impossible to say what he did,” the actor continued. “He didn’t just stand next to me. He was in front of me when I needed to be led and behind me when I needed to be pushed. He’s a remarkable man and it’s his ability to take whatever adversity we’ve faced and somehow undo it and carry on.

Spacey also referred to Lowenstein’s wife, Kassini Lowenstein, and their four children.

“It’s not just what he does for me, it’s what he does for his wife and their four incredible children and his countless friends who seek his advice.”

After receiving the award, Spacey shared a series of anecdotes about his 40-year career in a Q&A masterclass hosted by De Gaetano and looked behind the scenes of historic performances in films such as The usual suspects, seven, LA confidential, american beauty and house of cards.

Spacey credited his mother for getting him into acting through her love of art and film.

“She used to take me to the movies in Santa Monica. He is still here, the Nuart,” he recalls. “It’s where I discovered Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey and all these great movies and genres.”

Discussion turned to his breakout role The usual suspects, for which he won the 1996 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Roger “Verbal” Kint/Keyser Söze. Spacey talked about how Singer kept the plot of the actors during filming.

“Bryan Singer said to me, ‘In the movies you do, do you go and watch the dailies of what you shot the day before?’ I said, “Yeah, usually”. He said, “I’d like to ask you if you don’t do that in this film. When I asked why, he said, “Because I want you to have no doubt about what you’re hiding and revealing and what’s going on at any point during filming.” I want you to trust me that I’m paying attention to all of these things,” Spacey said.

“It was a wise decision on his part because I could trust Bryan completely,” he continued. “Actually, I don’t know if anyone knows this story, but something funny happened when he first took the cast to watch a rough cut. Afterwards, I saw Gabriel Byrne fighting Bryan in the parking lot because he absolutely believed he was Keyser Söze.”

Singer’s career has also been hit by allegations of sexual misconduct, and the director has not worked since being fired from the set Bohemian Rhapsodyjust weeks before its completion in 2017 due to erratic behaviour.

Recently The usual suspects would come out, Spacey was hired out of the blue to play John Doe in David Fincher’s psychological thriller seven.

He was initially turned down for the role, but was called on Christmas Eve by one of the film’s producers after Fincher fired the actor who was first cast for the role.

Spacey said: “It was Friday then. He said, “David wants to put you on the plane on Sunday so you can be here on Monday and we can start filming on Tuesday.”

Spacey revealed how he suggested not announcing his cast before the movie’s release, believing that if he did, the plot would be revealed too early in the film and that it was the subject of extensive negotiations. Point.

“I just shot Swim with Sharks, outbreak and The usual suspects. I thought this film will be next and it may be that many of these films will be successful and my profile will be different. I was worried that if the film as Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey didn’t show up within the first 40 minutes, audiences would find out,” he shared.

While the studio was against the idea, Fincher agreed that it made sense, and Spacey flew down on Sunday and began filming on Tuesday as planned.

When asked which directors he would most like to have worked with, Spacey rattled off a who’s who of Hollywood names.

“Anyone in the film community would have been honored to have someone like Mike Nichols (stomach acid) or Alan Pakula (consenting adults) or Bryan Singer or Clint Eastwood (midnight in the garden of good and evil)” he said.

Spacey mentioned Fincher’s directing style, revealing that the filmmaker was “notorious” for endless takes, which sometimes made him question his acting skills.

“I realized that one of the things that David brings out of you is acting. It gets you to a point where it’s delivered so cleanly and so quickly,” he said.

Speaking of other influences on his career, Spacey drew his immense respect for Jack Lemmon, whose portrayal in Billy Wilder’s 1960s classic The apartment contributed to the development of his character of Lester Burnham american beauty.

When Spacey won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role in 2000, he thanked Lemmon in his speech.

“I walked off the stage and my phone rang. I checked my cell phone and it was Jack Lemmon. “He said: ‘Hey listen nut, you’re a nut. I was like ‘I was just thanking you’. He said, “That’s good. I won my first Oscar in 1963 and it took me 11 years to win my second Oscar. You nailed it, asshole.

When asked if he was prepared for the fame that followed that acclaimed decade, Spacey admitted he found it confusing at first.

“There is no class or night school on how to negotiate to become famous. Before you know it, you have assistants, clerks, publicists… people telling you not to go like that, there are people like that. They end up going out through many back doors. It can be isolating.”

Spacey said he learned over the years to enjoy fame and appreciate that people often wanted to talk to him because his work moved them.

De Gaetano also asked Spacey about his service as artistic director of the Old Vic Theater Company in London from 2003 to 2015, without commenting on allegations of sexual assault against the actor, which he denies.

“It was one of the most important decisions I’ve ever made when I really had to make it,” he said. “Movies are a great experience, but you shoot with several actors for a few days and then you don’t see them anymore and then you might see them at the premiere.”

“The biggest difference between theater and film is that no matter how good a person is in a film, they will never do it again. it’s frozen During a play you also see how your fellow actors grow and change, and you also meet a different audience every night. It is not static. It is alive.”

The masterclass in Turin is the first leg of a trip to Italy that will see Spacey travel to Rome in the coming days for the world premiere of Franco Nero’s crime novel The man that God drewThis is his first film credit since 2017.

“Franco Nero is a remarkable talent and such a big star here. A few years ago he invited me to his film The man that God drewsaid Spacey. “I am so grateful to him for offering me the film, which makes me feel part of the experience in such a happy atmosphere. He is a great storyteller and I am very grateful to him and will see him in a few days.”

The actor declined to speak to the international trade press during his stay in Turin, but did speak to a handful of Italian media outlets, including local news agency Ansa.