Some people eat Chinese food or try to find the pickle ornament in the tree, while others open gifts and drive around the neighborhood looking at lights. But each year, Kevin Spacey's Christmas tradition always seems to beat out the rest as the most bizarre.
Since 2018, a year after sexual assault allegations were first lodged against him, the actor has released a Christmas video as Frank Underwood, his politician character in Netflix's "House of Cards," in which he discusses some sort of current topic. And this year, he sat down with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for a conversation that seemed to blur the lines of reality and TV.
The 7-minute video titled "Being Frank With Tucker" was posted to Spacey's YouTube on Christmas Eve and centered on the upcoming 2024 presidential election and the media world — including Netflix, which killed his character off ahead of its sixth season amid the allegations.
Speaking in his character's Southern accent, Spacey as Underwood tells Carlson about his potential run for president, repeatedly saying "we need to get some adults back in the room." He also says he has a "very solid relationship" and unwavering bond with the public, even saying he feels he can talk directly to them.
The two then bond over getting "canned" by their respective networks, though Carlson points out Netflix "tried to kill" Underwood off.
"Yes, but here we are bigger than ever," Spacey responds as Underwood. "It is bizarre that they decided to publicly cut ties with me on allegations alone — allegations that have now been proven false — because I don't think there's any question; Netflix exists because of me. I put them on the map, and they tried to put me in the ground."
"House of Cards" was one of Netflix's first original series, coming out in 2013, and became one of its most popular. It ended after the sixth season, which was released in 2018 after Spacey's firing the year prior.
Actor Kevin Spacey acquitted of sexual assault charges by London jury
Spacey entered a plea of not guilty to a total of nine charges.
Spacey has denied the multitude of sexual misconduct allegations against him since they were first brought in 2017. In 2022, the actor was found not liable in the New York sexual battery lawsuit brought by his initial accuser, and the next year, a jury found him not guilty of nine sexual assault charges in the U.K.
He's remained relatively out of the spotlight since 2017, with a few projects here and there, but the annual Christmas video appears to be one acting gig he's not stepping away from.
Toward the end of the video this year, Carlson asks Spacey when he's going to get back to work. He responds as Underwood, "I've been back at work from the moment we started talking, Tucker." The former political commentator then asks the actor whether this was an episode or if it's real.
"Well, it's probably a little of both," Spacey says as Underwood. "I mean Tucker, what's true, what's false? What's life, what's art? What's real, what's performance? I love it when these things intersect because then… it gets interesting."
