Kevin Spacey to star in Franco Nero film in the wake of sexual assault allegations

The two-time Oscar winner will play a small role in an Italian film also starring Vanessa Redgrave

Kevin Spacey is set to return to acting, four years after he was accused of sexual assault. AP Photo

Kevin Spacey is to make a return to acting in the wake of sexual assault allegations.

Almost four years since these allegationswere first made against the House of Cards actor, Spacey is due to make a cameo in an Italian film by director Franco Nero.

L'uomo Che Disegno Dio (The Man Who Drew God) will also star Nero's wife, English actress Vanessa Redgrave. Nero is set to star in the film, too.

News of the casting was first reported by ABC News.

"I'm very happy Kevin agreed to participate in my film," Nero told the US broadcaster. "I consider him a great actor and I can't wait to start the movie."

Spacey, 61, will reportedly play a small role as a police officer. The film follows "the rise and fall of a blind artist who has the extraordinary gift of making true-to-life portraits just by listening to human voices", according to IMDb.

The role is Spacey's first since 2018's Billionaire Boys Club. The two-time Oscar winner was fired from Netflix's House of Cards after allegations of sexual assault were made against him by actor Anthony Rapp in October 2017.

A number of other men came forward with allegations of assault, including a man who accused Spacey of sexual assault in a Massachusetts bar, but that lawsuit was dropped in 2019.

After the 2017 claims, Spacey was let go from his role as J Paul Getty in director Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. The role was then reshot with Christopher Plummer.

Last year, a man in New York alleged Spacey abused him in the 1980s when the man was 14 years old, filing a lawsuit anonymously. That case was dropped this month, however, after a federal judge ruled he could not proceed without giving his name.