Co-Star Says Kevin Spacey's Sexual Misconduct Halted Filming of 'The Usual Suspects'

The Usual Suspects star Gabriel Byrne said Kevin Spacey's alleged sexual misconduct halted [...]

The Usual Suspects star Gabriel Byrne said Kevin Spacey's alleged sexual misconduct halted production of the 1995 crime classic.

"I did not know honestly then the extent of his violence," the Irish actor, 67, told The Sunday Times on Dec. 3. "I mean, he was kind of a joke in that people would say, 'That's Kevin,' but nobody really understood the depth of his predations. It was only years later that we began to understand that [filming] was closed down for a particular reason and that was because of inappropriate sexual behavior by Spacey."

Byrne said Spacey was caught with a young actor, and the rest of the cast was wasn't aware of the situation at first.

Byrne also told the Times that Spacey showed an "element of absolute abuse of power," similar to what he saw in Harvey Weinstein.

Multiple men have come forward to accuse Spacey, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Usual Suspects, of sexual misconduct. House of Cards staffers also accused Spacey of sexual harassment and assault during production. Spacey was fired from the Netflix show, which will feature Robin Wright in its final season.

The 67-year-old Byrne, whose other films include Miller's Crossing and The 33, worked with Weinstein on Into The West in 1991. During that production, he met his future first wife, Ellen Barkin, notes The Daily Mail.

However, Laura Madden, Weinstein's assistant at the time, claimed she was sexually harassed by the producer at a Dublin hotel during the making of Into The West.

"I knew he was a vile bully and I saw his bullying up close," Byrne said of Weinstein. "I saw him be absolutely appalling, not just to women but to men as well. He had very little respect for any kind of human being."

Byrne said he heard from "two very well known actresses" about Weinstein's behavior before October. At the time, he wasn't sure what to do with the information and didn't know the extent of his behavior.

"But I did not know, and many people didn't know, the extent of the violence that he perpetrated on women," Byrne said.

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