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Toronto
Sun, July 30, 1996
Spacey's face is known
In less than a year, character actor Kevin Spacey has gone from
a "who's he?" to "ooh, it's him."
The altered media state is due to his memorable serial killer part
in the megahit Seven, but more prominently for his Usual Suspects
supporting actor Oscar.
"Now, when I go to the grocery store, it's like 'Hey, Kev good for
you — cool'," says 37yearold Spacey, mimicking an overealous
fan.
Before the Academy Award he admits it was more like "Hey, do I know
you? Did we go to school together?"
Fact is Spacey might be graduating to another level, even beyond
Oscar recognition.
He's getting good notices as the district attorney in the movie
version of John Grisham's A Time To Kill. He's a featured player
in L.A. Confidential, set for release next year, and he is preparing
to release his own film, Albino Alligator, by midNovember.
"It's very much a Petrified Forest, Dog Day Afternoon situation,"
he says of the hostage drama also starring Matt Dillon and Faye
Dunaway.
However, Albino Alligator means more to him than his debut as a
director. It's a benchmark for his incredible rise to fame and his
limited fortune.
"I had a great run over the last year with a lot of interesting
and diverse characters," says Spacey, who also costarred in Outbreak
and Swimming With Sharks.
"I really did sneak in a lot in the middle of my directing and acting
in Albino over the better part of a year and a half."
Not that he's complaining.
Spacey has done that outofworkactorinNew York thing before
his big breaks — his Wiseguy TV gig as gangster Mel Profitt, and
his Tony for the Broadway version of Lost In Yonkers.
"There is a lot to be said for going to work every day and being
too busy to get caught up in the silliness of this business," he
says.
Unfortunately, his '96 Oscar nomination demanded that he get swept
up in the "award ciruit that precedes it."
Spacey reports that he's still waiting for his fake gold popcorn
box from MTV. "They're engraving it apparently," he says, grinning.
"Yes, midway through being honored and celebrated in so many events,
you realize it's ludicrous — and I think that's a healthy attitude."
Ditto for Oscar?
"Oscar's a really nice little award," he says. "And, I think it's
the heaviest, too."
HE'S A CHARACTER ... Kevin Spacey is moving past acting, including
his latest role as prosecutor Rufus Buckley in A Time to Kill.
Toronto Sun, July 30, 1996
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