Writer/director Michael Zaiko Hall said he strapped Kevin Spacey into a Hannibal Lecter-style mask to keep the cast safe on the set of “Peter Five Eight.”
It’s a joke, of course.
Hall wasn’t joking about collaborating with the two-time Oscar winner, nor the thorny conversations about separating the artist from the art.
Spacey’s career unofficially ended seven years ago following a string of sexual abuse charges that came to light at the dawn of the MeToo era.
Actor Anthony Rapp’s 2017 accusation against Spacey triggered follow-up reports, bringing the legend’s professional life to a halt. Netflix wrote the star out of “House of Cards” and other projects quickly dried up.
Director Ridley Scott famously replaced Spacey at the virtual last minute with Christopher Plummer in his 2017 film “All the Money in the World.”
Things looked bleak for one of the industry’s most talented actors.
Spacey has since been found not guilty in two separate court cases, and a few prominent voices suggest he should be allowed to make movies again.
Hall agrees. It’s why he cast Spacey as the mysterious figure at the heart of “Peter Five Eight.” The 2024 release follows a troubled real estate agent (Jet Jandreau) on the run from her past and a charismatic killer (Spacey).
The neo-noir film’s March release triggered few mainstream reviews, but Hall told The Hollywood in Toto Podcast Spacey was a model cast member with talent to burn.
Still.
“He’s a very intense performer,” Hall said of Spacey, who he described as a vibrant, funny fellow. “He comes with the pages of the day heavily marked up with ideas.”
The writer/director called the production “uneventful” but that wasn’t the case behind the scenes.
“We were on the front lines [of the culture wars], and we were taking all the arrows. We still are,” Hall added.
Hall said he dug into the Spacey allegations extensively before agreeing to direct him on the project. That doesn’t mean he’d work with any troubled actor.
“It’s a case-by-case thing for me,” he said. “There’s a spectrum … and what frustrates me is that everything gets lumped together. It’s binary.”
Consider how superstar Matt Damon endured a public shaming for saying the crimes committed by producer Harvey Weinstein were different than, say, what got Sen. Al Franken booted from Washington.
“There are cases of those who got canceled and I agree with it. I think their actions have crossed the threshold of good behavior, and usually that threshold is recognized in the courts,” he said. “That’s where this should be vetted, not social media.”
Hall suggests a double standard could be in play.
“I think what we’re talking about is a gay man at the height of his fame with an active libido … to cancel him for that is very puritanical,” he said.
Would Hall hire Spacey again? Did he face professional blowback for working with the canceled star? Find out the answers and more on The Hollywood in Toto Podcast.
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