Mena Suvari recalls ‘weird’ experience with Kevin Spacey while filming American Beauty before his sexual assault scandal
MENA Suvari has recalled a “weird” experience she had with Kevin Spacey on the set of their 1999 film American Beauty.
The actress, who was 19 at the time of filming, revealed Kevin brought her into a room and “gently held her” while they lay on a bed.
She told they “[laid] on the bed very close to one another” in preparation for an intimate scene.
Mena, now 42, added: “He was sort of gently holding me. It was very peaceful but weird and unusual.”
American Beauty follows a middle-aged man [Kevin] becoming infatuated with his teenage daughter’s best friend [Mena] while dealing with depression.
Almost two decades after the film aired, Kevin, now 61, was and sexual harassment by several men.
Mena revealed that once she learned of the allegations she immediately “thought of that day” on the set of American Beauty.
HARROWING PAST
The American Pie star added that her “heart goes out to anyone who suffers abuse”.
In her new memoir, The Great Peace: A Memoir, Mena opened up about being sexually abused while growing up and how she felt as if she were “living a double life” after the success of American Beauty.
“Every time I would go on a set, every time I was interviewed, I was acting the whole time. It was another role for me to play. That I was okay,” she told People.
The channeled her inner turmoil into her role in American Beauty, which she described as a “beautiful experience”.
She said the film gave her the “opportunity to work and express myself right when I needed I to save me”.
SEXUAL ASSAULT SCANDAL
Kevin has experienced a fall from grace in the industry since accusations of sexual assault against him began pouring in in 2017.
Actor Anthony Rapp was the first person to make an allegation against Kevin, claiming he was 14 when a 26-year-old Spacey made a sexual advance upon him in 1986.
Within hours of Anthony’s claims, Kevin posted a statement apologizing but saying he could not remember the incident. He also publicly came out as gay for the first time.
London’s Old Vic theater, where Kevin was an artistic director from 2004 to 2015, apologized in November, revealing it had received 20 allegations of inappropriate behavior.
Theatre bosses said a “cult of personality” had contributed to the organisation’s failings.
UNWANTED ADVANCES
In total, more than 30 men have claimed they were victims of the House of Cards star’s unwanted advances.
He was accused of assaulting a man in West Hollywood in 1992. But the case was dropped in September 2018.
Los Angeles prosecutors said too much time had elapsed and it was now outside California’s statute of limitations.
In December 2018, Kevin was charged with felony and indecent assault in a bar in Nantucket, Massachusetts after it was alleged he sexually assaulted an 18-year-old man in 2016. Lawyers failed to torpedo the case.
In June 26, 2019, the same 18-year old then filed against the star actor claiming emotional damages. However, the man in question voluntarily dismissed the claim.
A second criminal assault charge was also filed against Kevin in July, 2018 when an anonymous masseuse claimed that the actor forced him to touch his genitals and tried to kiss him, during a session back in 2016.
Yet, the criminal charge was dismissed in January 2020 after the alleged victim died earlier in the year following what was believed to be a battle with cancer.
Although no other criminal charges have come against Kevin, London’s Met Police have previously probed six allegations against the Oscar-winning actor after more men have come forward.
