Gabriel Byrne: Kevin Spacey's 'sexual behaviour' halted filming on The Usual Suspects
Gabriel Byrne has said that ‘inappropriate sexual behaviour’ on the part of Kevin Spacey while filming The Usual Suspects actually halted the movie’s production.
“I did not know honestly then the extent of his violence,” the Irish actor told The Sunday Times.
“I mean, he was kind of a joke in that people would say, ‘That’s Kevin,’ but nobody really understood the depth of his predations.
“It was only years later that we began to understand that [filming] was closed down for a particular reason and that was because of inappropriate sexual behaviour by Spacey.”
Byrne starred as veteran criminal Dean Keaton opposite Spacey’s seemingly hapless ‘Verbal’ Kint in Bryan Singer-directed 1995 classic.
And despite the interruptions in production, Spacey still won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the role, which, as well as his parts in Swimming With Sharks and Glengarry Glen Ross, saw him break into the movies.
Following allegations of sexual misconduct from multiple sources, the actor found himself fired from Netflix show House of Cards.
It’s now been confirmed that the show will continue on without him, with Robin Wright’s Claire Underwood taking on the lead.
Spacey has also been cut from Ridley Scott’s new movie All The Money In The World, and replaced just weeks away from release with Christopher Plummer.
Byrne went on to compare Spacey’s alleged actions to those of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, calling them ‘an abuse of power’.
“I did three movies with Harvey Weinstein, and I knew he was a sleaze-bag,” he said.
“I knew he was a vile bully and I saw his bullying up close. I saw him be absolutely appalling, not just to women but to men as well. He had very little respect for any kind of human being. He wanted his stars around him.”
He went on to add that he heard ‘vague rumours… of doors being locked and women being compromised’.
“I heard that once or twice from two very well known actresses, but the problem when you hear something like that is, do you pass that on? Because if it’s not true it’s awful, and if it is true it’s not your job to say, ‘Well, I wasn’t there, the door was locked, I don’t know what happened, I just heard the story.’
“But I did not know, and many people didn’t know, the extent of the violence that he perpetrated on women.”
Weinstein continues to deny that he engaged in non-consensual sex with women.
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