Kevin Spacey recites poem about broken down boxer at museum in Rome

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - Kevin Spacey stunned museum-goers in Rome on Friday with a bizarre reading of Italian poet Gabriele Tinti's poem, The Boxer.

It's unclear what Spacey, 60, was hoping to accomplish with the stunt.

The actor's career flamed out in 2017 after he was accused by more than a dozen people of sexual assault. He did get a legal break in July, however, when prosecutors dropped a criminal case in which Spacey was accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old busboy in Nantucket, USA.

With that case behind him, the Oscar-winner appeared by the Boxer at Rest statue at the National Roman Museum to recite a poem about a broken down and worn out pugilist.

"I shook the country, made the arenas vibrate, tore my opponents to shreds," Spacey read.

"I lit up the darkness, collected insults, compelled applause. Not everyone knew how to do this. None of you. On the other hand life is not frightening for those who have never taken a risk."

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The actor's team apparently alerted media that there would be a seemingly impromptu reading and promised certain outlets sit-down interviews with Spacey that didn't materialise.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, a correspondent for The Daily Beast who witnessed the performance, described it as "unapologetic."

"But the poetry reading was as much a confession as a moment of acting, it seemed," she wrote. "As his voice rang out in front of no more than 50 surprised museum goers and selected guests, it was clear that while he may have fallen from grace for the alleged sexual assaults he did not feel any apparent remorse."

On Twitter, Tinti denied reports that the poem was written with Spacey in mind. Rather, he said it was part of a project in which he writes poems as tributes to pieces of ancient art.

"What a wonderful night! Everyone was so happy to celebrate art, it was an honour to have Kevin Spacey reading my poems, Rome loves you!," he tweeted.

"What a brilliant performance of Kevin Spacey! The smile on the face of the 150 attendants brightened up the cloudy day in Rome. Video coming soon! #kevinspacey #theboxer," he wrote in a separate tweet.

Spacey has previously made strange plays for attention. On December 24 lats year, he posted a video in which he channelled his House of Cards character Frank Underwood and urged viewers not to "rush to judgement."

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