The 'American Beauty' actress looks back at the memory she had about the intimate scene shoot with her former co-star when sharing her initial thoughts over his sexual assault accusations.
- July 23, 2021
AceShowbiz - Mena Suvari had a flashback to a "weird and unusual" encounter with her "American Beauty" co-star Kevin Spacey when the sexual misconduct allegations first surfaced against the disgraced actor.
The actress reveals they had been on the set of the Oscar-winning 1999 drama, preparing to shoot an intimate scene, when Spacey asked her to lay next to him in bed.
The young Suvari "trusted" the Hollywood veteran and agreed, and they ended up lying "very close to one another".
"He was sort of gently holding me. It was very peaceful but weird and unusual," she recalled to People magazine.
That memory only resurfaced in late 2017, after Spacey, who subsequently 'came out' as a gay man, was accused of sexual assault by a number of alleged victims, including actor Anthony Rapp, who claimed he was just 14 at the time.
"I thought of that day [on set]," Suvari shared of her initial thoughts following the reports of Spacey's bad behaviour, adding, "My heart goes out to anyone who suffers abuse."
Spacey has denied all allegations of inappropriate conduct.
The sensitive topic is one Suvari knows all too well, having suffered multiple experiences of sexual abuse during her youth - something she details in her new autobiography, "The Great Peace: A Memoir".
"This is my truth. This is my voice," she explained of what inspired her to put pen to paper. "I was so tired of fighting and hiding my whole life. I hope I can help someone else see their value. If I can lessen the pain for someone else, then I want to do it, because I didn't have that person."
