Fortunate and blessed to have spent my life telling stories: Kevin Spacey meets fans in Yerevan

YEREVAN, JULY 9, ARMENPRESS. Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey, whose diverse characters never repeat themselves, considers himself fortunate and blessed to have spent his life in theater and cinema, telling stories.

Reflecting on episodes from his films, he recalls his roles and highly values the co-stars he has worked with.

Spacey, the guest of honor at the 21st Golden Apricot International Film Festival, on July 9 met hundreds of fans of his art at the Cinema House in Yerevan.

He said that it is wonderful to go on stage and see such a large audience. "This is exciting and important for me," Spacey said.

Spacey believes that whether you're a theater or film actor, the most important thing is to play well.

 "It doesn't matter if you're on a professional stage or in a school troupe; you should simply act. While you can earn a lot of money in movies, a good actor is a good actor everywhere, and a bad actor is bad. If you think you can be in front of the camera or on stage, you will eventually get there," he assured.

The actor sometimes meets people who claim to have seen all his films. He responds that it's impossible.

"The American Institute awards an achievement award to the American actor Jack Lemmon. In the evening, when we were celebrating that event, we recalled his roles. He said he asked the producer how many films would be shown before the award ceremony. The producer answered: 33. Jack said he had acted in 73 films. The producer noted that if all the films were shown, most of the audience in the hall would have left the event," Spacey said and added that both he and other actors have played bad roles.

Speaking about the film "Seven," the actor recalled that upon reading the script, he didn't initially understand what to do with the role, how to create the character. For his previous film, Spacey had a particular haircut and asked "Seven" director David Fincher what to do about his hair. As a result, Fincher and Spacey shaved their heads and shot the film in 14 days. They had limited time for preparation, and Fincher assured Spacey that they would manage everything, believing Spacey would win.

The actor believes that Fincher succeeds because he always strives for perfection and knows precisely what he wants to film.

According to Kevin Spacey, every actor should have a voice that enables them to be heard.

"When I started learning, I was very young. My hearing was excellent; I could hear any sound. My mom took me to the movies, which was a new art form back then. I began paying close attention to my mom's reactions, watching how she laughed. Then, on our way home, I would ask her to cook pasta or tomatoes, using voices and gestures of different characters, which amused my mother. It was important to me," he said.

At the opening of the "Golden Apricot" film festival, the artistic director Karen Avetisyan presented Spacey with the "Parajanovian Thaler" for his invaluable contribution to cinema. The actor noted that by honoring him, they are also honoring those who contributed to the films in which he participated, films that changed his life upside down.