Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey hasn’t exactly kept a “low profile” since allegations of sexual misconduct were made in 2017.
Despite being cut from the final season of the Netflix original series House of Cards, from 2018 to 2020, Spacey posted an annual video to his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve, appearing as his character Frank Underwood, the ruthless politician who became president of the United States through treachery, deception and even murder.
The videos—in which he took on the role of his sociopathic character—seemed like an odd way for the actor to seek redemption, but in a truly surprising turn, Spacey again was back as Underwood and talking to former FoxNews host Tucker Carlson this Christmas Eve.
On Sunday, Spacey appeared on the 56th episode of Carlson’s streaming interview-based program on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Carlson captioned the interview as “A Christmas Eve election surprise.”
The pair talked about the state of the 2024 Presidential Election, which Carlson said looks to be all but certainly appears to be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. While Spacey, who remained completely “in character” during the more than seven-minute-long video, didn’t directly declare that he was running for president, it does seem at times that he is set to throw his hat in the ring.
In addition, Spacey seemed to take credit for Netflix’s success.
“Every time a person pulls up the Netflix app. You’re there in some way, have you seen this?” Carlson asked while playing the Netflix intro sound.
“Yes, you know what that is? Boom, boom. So it is bizarre they decided to publicly cut ties with me on allegations alone, allegations that have now been proven false. Because I don’t think there’s any question. Netflix exists because of me. I put them on the map and they tried to put me in the ground,” Spacey responded.
Though House of Cards, which is based on the UK series of the same name, wasn’t the first original series from the DVD-by-mail-turned-streaming platform, the series became a breakaway hit, and went on to win numerous awards and accolades. It ran for six seasons, with Underwood’s character killed off before the final season.
Many critics and fans alike felt the show suffered greatly and at times it seemed to be a bit incompressible—much like the Spacey/Underwood videos.
The interview could be Spacey’s attempt to respond to the recent ruling that ordered the actor and his companies to pay nearly $31 million to MRC, the production company behind House of Cards, for violating Netflix’s sexual harassment policy.
As Variety reported, it was earlier this year that Spacey received his first film role since the sexual assault allegations when he starred in the low-budget Italian indie film titled L’uomo Che Disegnò Dio. Before that, Spacey’s last film role was in 2018’s Billionaire Boys Club, which was shot prior to the sexual assault allegations coming to light. While it went ahead with a theatrical release, it earned a dismal $2.8 million at the box office.
In July, the Oscar-winning U.S. actor of acquitted of all nine sexual offence charges which he was accused of committing between 2004 and 2013 at a time when he was working at London’s Old Vic theatre.
Quite The Holiday Production
When Carlson asked Spacey whether his comments about the upcoming were real, the actor responded, “Tucker, what’s true and what’s false? What’s life and what’s art? What’s real, what’s performance? I love it when these things intersect because then it gets interesting.”
The actor then addressed the allegations that were made against him, as well as the tribulations that his Underwood character faced.
“Despite all the poppycock, the animosity, the headlines, the impeachment without a trial,” said Spacey. “Despite even my own death, I feel surprisingly good and my confidence grows each day that soon enough you will know the full truth.”
However, we may have to wait until next Christmas Eve to learn what that truth actually is!
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