Why Kevin Spacey has never been happier
April 1st, 2008, 6:23 am Hobbies Ideas
Perhaps we%26rsquo;re still not sure what to make of Kevin Spacey here in the UK. A
two-time Oscar-winning A-list actor settles in south London to battle
against hostile critics and rebuild a tottering theatre. How would we have
responded if Jack Lemmon had taken over the Old Vic? Or Meryl Streep?
Probably the same - bitched and moaned, but secretly prayed they%26rsquo;d stay.
See? we%26rsquo;d wonder to ourselves. We%26rsquo;re still the home of proper theatre.
But, really… Aladdin at Christmas?
Curiously, our British sniping doesn%26rsquo;t seem to bother Spacey. Least of all
today. I%26rsquo;ve interviewed him before, and the first thing I notice is that he
looks%26hellip; well … relaxed. One might almost say happy. He asks polite
questions about my own life %26ndash; things he%26rsquo;s remembered that no stars ever do.
Yet there is still something that seems … coiled.
He is demonstrating his spring-load mechanism in two roles at the moment. In
his new film, 21, he plays a professor who encourages a group of students at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology to master card-counting and fleece
Vegas. On stage at the Old Vic, he is cast as Charlie, the Hollywood
hustler, opposite Jeff Goldblum in David Mamet%26rsquo;s Speed-the-Plow.
In 21, Spacey%26rsquo;s Professor Mickey Rosa tempts Jim Sturgess%26rsquo;s broke Ben Campbell
into the darkness with Mephistophelean glee, then rabbit-punches him with
such swift brutality, you%26rsquo;re left almost breathless. This is the beauty of
Spacey on film - the nuance, the pause, the grin that charms and chills in
equal measure. In Plow, the currents don%26rsquo;t run deep. Both characters explode
- but, with Charlie, it%26rsquo;s constant combustion. I guess they%26rsquo;re both
desperate, Spacey nods carefully. Charlie%26rsquo;s never had anything of his own,
and you get bitter about that. With Mickey - what does an MIT professor
make? He realises he%26rsquo;s got these kids who are smart, but he can%26rsquo;t bankroll
them; someone%26rsquo;s bankrolling him. So, when these kids get arrogant and
stupid, he%26rsquo;s going to have to front that. He%26rsquo;s near the breaking point.
This used to describe Spacey himself. His early career was driven by manic
intensity. Some nights, it got so bad he couldn%26rsquo;t sleep. He wanted fame so
much, he%26rsquo;d do stand-up comedy at midnight in bowling alleys. Then, in 1986,
he fought like fury to play Jamie in a Jonathan Miller-directed version of
Long Day%26rsquo;s Journey into Night. Jack Lemmon played his father - a crucial
moment for Spacey, as it was Lemmon%26rsquo;s kind words, during a youth workshop in
California, that had set him on his way.
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