Kevin Spacey accuser recalls ‘American Beauty’ as being ‘unpleasantly familiar’

Anthony Rapp, the actor who accused Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct when Rapp was 14 years old, took the stand today in Spacey’s sexual misconduct trial and described what it was like to have to see Spacey in movies over the years, saying the experience was psychologically terrible.

Rapp said that in 1986, Spacey trapped him in his apartment and fondled him. He brought the allegations in 2017, right around the peak of the #metoo movement. Rapp was testifying to his own lawyers on Tuesday, according to Deadline.

He said he watched Spacey’s movies over the years, including Seven, L.A. Confidential, The Usual Suspects and of course, American Beauty – a huge film in 1999 that saw Spacey win an Oscar for best actor.

In that movie, Spacey has a relationship with a teenage girl. On the witness stand, Rapp said it was difficult to watch because it hit extremely close to home.

“And that was especially difficult to be in the presence of,” Rapp said, adding that watching it on the big screen felt “unpleasantly familiar.”

He watched the movies, he said, because he he felt he had to. “I’m an actor, and I love films,” he said in court. “I felt it was part of my job to see them.” Because Rapp knew Spacey was in the films, he said, he could brace himself for seeing the famous actor.

This wasn’t the case with the 1998 movie Working Girl, which Rapp said he didn’t know Spacey was in. “Kevin Spacey came on the screen, and it was as if someone had poked me with a cattle prod. I felt like I jumped out of my seat.”

He also got sweaty palms and felt his adrenaline spike, something that also happened when Spacey entered the courtroom, he said. The feeling hit him the same way it did when he entered the courtroom, he testified.

Few actors have had such a spectacular fall from grace. Spacey went from one of the highest paid and most respected actors ever to pariah over numerous allegations of sexual misconduct that began in 2017.

He was also fired from the hit show House of Cards, and owes producers $31 million over a breach of contract regarding the allegations. He’s been involved in a number of court cases over the past few years, with one going away due to an accuser’s death and another in the U.K. awaiting trial.

Spacey’s defense for the Rapp trial is that the young actor is making up the story. The trial has been moving faster than expected and could wrap up as easily as later this week. We’ll keep you posted as things continue to develop.