Kevin Spacey is an American actor who began his acting career on stage. His film career started in the late 1980s after small parts in Heartburn (1986) and Working Girl (1988). In the 90s, he had supporting roles in the films Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and Iron Will (1994) before being cast in the role of Roger "Verbal" Kint in the 1995 The Usual Suspects which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he played serial killer and villain in Se7en opposite Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. He went on to star in L.A. Confidential (1997), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), The Negotiator (1998), voicing the grasshopper villain Hopper in A Bug's Life (1998), and American Beauty (1999). The latter earned him his second Academy Award, but this time for Best Actor.

In the 2000s, he appeared in the films Pay It Forward with Helen Hunt (2000), Superman Returns as Lex Luthor (2006), 21 with Jim Sturgess (2008), the latter which he also produced. In 2011, he co-starred with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons in the drama film Margin Call. That same year, he played antagonist Dave Harken in the comedy Horrible Bosses with Jason Bateman, a role he reprised in the 2014 sequel Horrible Bosses 2. He played Doc in the 2017 film Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort and Ron Levin in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club. From 2013-17, he starred as Frank Underwood in House of Cards.

Film Year Title Role Director(s) Notes 1986 Heartburn Subway Thief Mike Nichols 1988 Working Girl Bob Speck Rocket Gibraltar Dwayne Hanson Daniel Petrie 1989 See No Evil, Hear No Evil Kirgo Arthur Hiller Dad Mario Gary David Goldberg 1990 A Show of Force Frank Curtin Bruno Barreto Henry & June Richard Osborn Philip Kaufman 1992 Glengarry Glen Ross John Williamson James Foley Consenting Adults Eddy Otis Alan J. Pakula 1994 Iron Will Harry Kingsley Charles Haid The Ref Lloyd Chasseur Ted Demme Swimming with Sharks Buddy Ackerman George Huang Also co-producer 1995 The Usual Suspects Roger "Verbal" Kint Bryan Singer Outbreak Casey Schuler Wolfgang Petersen Se7en John Doe David Fincher 1996 A Time to Kill Rufus Buckley Joel Schumacher Looking for Richard Buckingham Al Pacino Documentary film Albino Alligator Himself Directorial debut 1997 L.A. Confidential Jack Vincennes Curtis Hanson Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Jim Williams Clint Eastwood 1998 The Negotiator Chris Sabian F. Gary Gray Hurlyburly Mickey Anthony Drazan A Bug's Life Hopper (voice) John Lasseter 1999 American Beauty Lester Burnham Sam Mendes The Big Kahuna Larry Mann John Swanbeck Also producer 2000 Ordinary Decent Criminal Michael Lynch Thaddeus O'Sullivan Pay It Forward Eugene Simonet Mimi Leder 2001 K-PAX Prot / Robert Porter Iain Softley The Shipping News Quoyle Lasse Hallström 2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Himself / Famous Dr. Evil; ('Austinpussy') Jay Roach Cameo 2003 The Life of David Gale David Gale Alan Parker The United States of Leland Albert T. Fitzgerald Matthew Ryan Hoge Also producer 2004 Beyond the Sea Bobby Darin Himself Also director, producer and writer 2005 Edison Levon Wallace David J. Burke Direct-to-video 2006 The Good Student David Ostry Also executive producer The Sasquatch Gang Tim Skousen Also producer Mini's First Time Nick Guthe Superman Returns Lex Luthor Bryan Singer 2007 Fred Claus Clyde Northcut David Dobkin 2008 21 Mickey Rosa Robert Luketic Also producer Columbus Day Charles Burheister Telstar: The Joe Meek Story Major Wilfred Banks Nick Moran 2009 Moon GERTY (voice) Duncan Jones Fanboys Kyle Newman Also producer Shrink Henry Carter Jonas Pate The Men Who Stare at Goats Larry Hooper Grant Heslov 2010 Father of Invention Robert Axle Trent Cooper Also producer Casino Jack Jack Abramoff George Hickenlooper The Social Network David Fincher Executive producer 2011 Margin Call Sam Rogers J.C. Chandor Horrible Bosses Dave Harken Seth Gordon Inseparable Chuck Dayyan Eng Executive producer 2012 Envelope Evgeniy Petrov Aleksey Nuzhny Short film Safe Boaz Yakin Executive producer 2013 Captain Phillips Paul Greengrass 2014 Horrible Bosses 2 Dave Harken Sean Anders 2016 Elvis & Nixon Richard Nixon Liza Johnson Nine Lives Tom Brand / Mr. Fuzzypants Barry Sonnenfeld Also voice role 2017 Rebel in the Rye Whit Burnett Danny Strong Baby Driver Doc Edgar Wright 2018 Billionaire Boys Club Ron Levin James Cox 2022 Once Upon a Time in Croatia The Host Jakov Sedlar Docu-drama The Man Who Drew God Police Detective Franco Nero Spacey is dubbed in Italian by Roberto Pedicini 2023 Control The Voice Gene Fallaize Voice role2024 Peter Five Eight Peter Michael Zaiko Hall The Contract The Devil Massimo Paolucci 2025 1780 Thomas Dustin FairbanksKevin Spacey & DJ Qualls To Topline Revolutionary-Era Thriller ‘1780’ – Watch A Teaser 2026 Torrente for President Leader of Illuminati Santiago Segura Holiguards Saga — The Portal of Force Adel Himself Also director Matt Routledge Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1987 The Equalizer Detective Sgt. Cole Episode: "Solo" Long Day's Journey into Night James "Jamie" Tyrone Jr Television film Crime Story Senator Rourke Episode: "The Senator, the Movie Star, and the Mob" 1988 The Murder of Mary Phagan Wes Brent Miniseries Wiseguy Mel Profitt 7 episodes Unsub Benton Episode: "Clean Slate" 1990 When You Remember Me Wade Television film Fall from Grace Jim Bakker 1991 Darrow Clarence Darrow 1992 L.A. Law Giles Keenan Episode: "Guess Who's Coming To Murder" 1993 TriBeCa Chris Boden Episode: "Heros Exoletus" 1994 Doomsday Gun Jim Price Television film 1997, 2006 Saturday Night Live Himself (host) 2 episodes 2003 Freedom: A History of Us Various 6 episodes 2007 Bernard and Doris Television film; executive producer 2008 Recount Ron Klain Television film 2010 Gorilla School Narrator (voice) 12 episodes 2012 Johnny Carson: King of Late Night American Masters documentary special, PBS 2013–2017 House of Cards Francis "Frank" Underwood 65 episodes; also executive producer 2013 2014 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony Himself (host) Television special 2014 The Colbert Report Frank Underwood Episode: "1,394" 2016 Betrayed Miniseries; executive producer 2017 71st Tony Awards Himself (host) Television special Manhunt: Unabomber Miniseries; executive producer 2025–2026 Minimarket Mentor Kevin 10 episodes

Video games Year Title Role Notes 2006 Superman Returns Lex Luthor (voice) 2014 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Jonathan Irons (voice) Also motion capture

Theatre Year Title Role Venues Ref. 1981 Henry IV, Part 1 Messenger Delacorte Theater, Off-Broadway 1982 Ghosts Oswald AlvingBrooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway1983 The Misanthrope Philinte Seattle Repertory Theater The Mousetrap Sergeant Trotter Barter Theatre, Abingdon/Fairfax, VA 1984 Hurlyburly Artie (replacement) Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway 1985 The Seagull KonstantinThe Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. 1986 Long Day's Journey into Night James Tyrone Jr. Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway 1988 Right Behind the Flag Bernie Playwrights Horizons, Off-Broadway 1991 Lost in Yonkers Louie Richard Rogers Theatre, Broadway 1993 Playland Gideon Le Roux New York City Center, Off-Broadway 1999 The Iceman Cometh Theodore "Hickey" HickmanBrooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway 2005 Richard II Richard II Old Vic Theatre, London National Anthems Ben The Philadelphia Story Dexter2006A Moon for the MisbegottenJim TyroneBrooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway 2008 Speed-the-Plow Charlie Fox Old Vic Theatre, London 2009 Inherit the Wind Henry Drummond2011Richard IIIRichard III Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus Hong Kong Arts Festival Centro Niemeyer, Avilés Istanbul Municipal Theatre Curran Theatre, San Francisco Singapore Repertory Theatre Qatar National Convention Centre, Doha2012Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York 2015DarrowClarence Darrow Old Vic Theatre, London 2017Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York

See also

References