Spacey Quotes

On turning down the role of Angela in American Beauty (1999): "When I read it, I was 15 and I don`t think I was mature enough to understand the script`s material. I didn`t want to be kissing Kevin Spacey. Come on! Lying there naked with rose petals?".

(On turning down the chance to play Richard Gere`s character in the Harvey Weinstein-produced film Chicago) "I thought I was too young for the role. You have some 34-year-old guy up against Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renée Zellweger and it becomes a different movie. At one point, Harvey was telling me they were thinking of Kevin Spacey, and I told him, `That`s exactly right. You should hire him.` Then I was in New York when the movie opened and the queue was around the block. I sat down and thought that I had probably made the biggest mistake. But I still honestly think that it was the right thing to do. I still think I was too young for that part."

I called Kevin Spacey one day about something else, but he didn`t say to me `calm down,` like The New York Times said. Because I was not deranged.

(on working with Kevin Spacey on K-PAX and their similarities in working) I`ve been a big fan of his work -- The Usual Suspects, American Beauty, L.A. Confidential. He`s a really good actor and he turns out to be a wonderful guy as well. We approach acting in the same way in that we both enjoy the process. We both like rehearsals and we understand the value of them. There are some actors who don`t like to engage with other actors; they just like to relate to each other between `Action!` and `Cut!` But I`ve always felt that getting to know the people you`re working with can inform and enrich the work. The closer you get, even if you`re playing opposites, the better the work. Some actors are afraid of leaving it all off-camera or getting the characters confused, but I don`t see it that way. I often feel that the actual movie is like the skin sloughed off the snake; it`s the by-product of the real valuable stuff, which is the real-life experience of doing it.