Kevin Spacey has emerged from the shadows to give an impromptu poetry reading.
On Friday, the disgraced actor appeared at the National Roman Museum in central Rome. Here, he read the Italian poem "The Boxer" while standing in front of the popular "Boxer at Rest" sculpture. Spacey drew a crowd as he recited Gabriele Tinti's piece in English. Yet, it started to give the impression that Spacey was using Tinti's words to allude to his own personal struggles.
This has been one of Spacey's rare public appearances since he was accused by multiple people of sexual assault in 2017. Although more than a dozen people have made claims against Spacey, he was able to score a victory when the prosecution dropped a criminal case in which Spacey was charged with sexually assaulting a Nantucket teenager. That win may make the actor feel connected to the poem.
"I shook the country, made the arenas vibrate, tore my opponents to shreds," Spacey recited. "I lit up the darkness, collected insults, compelled applause. Not everyone knew how to do this. None of you. On the other hand life is not frightening for those who have never taken a risk."
Yet, Spacey could have just been contributing to the poet's vision. On Twitter, Tinti denied claims that Spacey was the poem's muse. He insists that he writes poems based on ancient works of art and thanked Spacey for his support.
"What a wonderful night!" Tinti wrote. "Everyone was so happy to celebrate art, it was an honor to have Kevin Spacey reading my poems, Rome loves you!"
According to Variety, Spacey's team notified the media that he would be doing this on-the-spot performance. Also, he promised to have sit-down interviews with select publications that never happened. This is unfortunate as this latest Spacey sighting presents more questions that the public would like answered.
