Robin Wright believes her disgraced “House of Cards” co-star Kevin Spacey deserves a second chance at success following the multitude of sexual assault and misconduct allegations against him.
When asked about a potential career comeback for the Oscar-winning actor, Wright, 52, told the Porter Edit, “I don’t know how to comment on that, I really don’t. I believe every human being has the ability to reform … In that sense, second chances, or whatever you are going to call it – absolutely, I believe in that. It’s called growth.”
Wright said she hasn’t heard from Spacey, 59, since the scandal broke, but that if he wanted to speak to her, he could reach out to her when he was ready.
“I feel sorry for anybody whose life is in the public arena. It’s a nightmare, can you imagine? We do a job, we share [a performance] with viewers. Why does our private life have to be public? I hate that part of this industry,” she fumed. “It’s so invasive. I believe everyone’s personal life should be personal.
"Positive, negative, neutral, whatever – I don’t believe it should be anybody’s business. But I’m not talking about [the #MeToo] movement – I’m talking about media. The exposure. It’s an awful feeling. A stranger deciding they know who you are … I mean, it’s criminal, it really is.”
“Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp was the first to publicly accuse Spacey of sexual misconduct, alleging that the “American Beauty” star attempted to seduce him when they starred in a Broadway production together in 1986 – when Rapp was just 14 years old.
Spacey claimed to not recall the incident, but used the opportunity to come out as gay, a move that GLAAD slammed as a deflection from his sexual assault accusations.
Several more allegations followed, with sexual assault investigations opening in Los Angeles and London, where one theater reportedly received 20 complaints about his conduct.
Spacey has since sought unspecified treatment, was written out of the upcoming final season of “House of Cards” and recast in “All the Money in the World.” He has maintained his innocence of all sexual misconduct allegations.
As for “House of Cards” ending, Wright says she was determined not to let Spacey’s conduct taint the series and ruin the lives of everyone else involved in the Netflix juggernaut’s creation. She admitted it came “very, very close” to cancellation when Spacey’s alleged behavior came to light, leaving a sense of “shock and fear” on the set and the cast and crew worried about losing their livelihoods.
“Because of the climate at that time,” she explained. “The air was thick, you know. Harvey Weinstein … People were [saying], ‘We have to shut everything down or otherwise it will look like we are glorifying and honoring this thing that’s dirty.’ ”
“Our show’s not dirty! I believed we should finish. I believed we should honor our commitment. To the people that loved the show, also,” she continued. “Why quit? They printed that it was ‘only’ 600 people out of work, but if you include security, cops, shooting on location in Baltimore, everything, 2,500 people would have been out of a job. And that’s not fair – to take that security away from those people.”
Wright previously said of Spacey that she “didn’t know the man,” only the actor, explaining, “We were co-workers really, we didn’t socialize outside of work. We had a respectful, professional relationship. He was so great with me. He was never disrespectful to me. That’s my personal experience. That’s the only thing that I feel I have the right to talk about.”
This article originally appeared on Page Six.