Back in 2007 and 2008, actor Kevin Spacey mentioned the importance of successful actors helping out those still struggling to make it in that industry. This quote from Interview magazine sums up the riff Spacey frequently used:
I was 14 when I was taken to a seminar and a production of the play Juno and the Paycock in Los Angeles with Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, and Jack Lemmon. And I can tell you, as a budding actor, having Jack Lemmon put his hand on my shoulder and say, [impersonating Lemmon] “That was terrific, kid; you oughta do this professionally,” was a big deal for me. Jack became an extraordinary mentor, and he always said that if you’ve been fortunate enough to be successful in the business that you wanted to be in, then it is your obligation to send the elevator back down. I’m trying to do for a lot of younger people what was done for me, and I hope that if I do it, I’ll encourage others to do it.
In Blacklisting Myself, Roger L. Simon noted that many Hollywood actors create a hyper-cheerful and uber-politically correct “Mini-Me” persona to present to their interviewers. But in the real world, Spacey isn’t afraid to slam the metaphoric elevator doors in a working man’s face from time to time:
“Mr. Spacey, you got me fired from my job!” In an exclusive interview with RadarOnline.com, waiter Peter Turner said that’s what happened when he told Kevin Spacey he wasn’t allowed to smoke in a restaurant.
“You’re an aggressive prick,” Turner said the Oscar winning actor Kevin Spacey told him after he asked him to stop smoking three times in the high-end restaurant Clarke Cooke House in Newport, Rhode Island in late June. When Spacey’s dinner companions lit up their cigarettes Turner was instructed by his boss to tell the group to stop smoking, since it was a violation of state law… He said he made a joke to the smokers, saying: “You’re not allowed to smoke in here unless you’re on fire,” but the actor’s anger exploded. “I need you to get the f*** away from my table,” Spacey snarled to the waiter.
As Deceiver.com notes, “Doesn’t he know that laws are only for people he hasn’t seen in the movies?”
Update: Speaking of which, welcome readers of the aforementioned Deceiver.com!
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