RYAN PFLUGER/THE NEW Y ORK TIMES/EYEVINENever handsome, just sensuous and dangerous: Kevin Spaceysteal intimacy from others. They ask for it.
He finally came out as gay when he apolo-
gised for the first assault he was accused of
— he says he does not remember it — but
this was received with fury by the gay com-
munity because the accuser was 14 when
it apparently occurred. It was considered
manipulative, and it was.
When he collected his Oscar for Ameri-
can Beauty he dedicated it ‘To my friends
for pointing out my worst qualities. I know
you do it because you love me. And that is
why I love playing Lester. Because we got
to see all of his worst qualities and we still
grew to love him. And this movie to me is
all about how any single act from any sin-
gle person, put out of context, is damnable.’
And so I wonder if Spacey is that strangeand isolated creature, the risk-taker who
longs to be caught. I don’t know where he
is; there is no trace of him in any media
I can find. But I will miss him. ‘And like that,’
as he said at the end of The Usual Suspects,
‘he’s gone.’The final season of House of Cards, season
six, is on screen now.