Can Kevin Spacey mount a cinema comeback?

"There are no second acts in American lives," author F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote. Kevin Spacey might beg to differ. 

The American actor, a two-time Oscar winner, is trying to start a new chapter in his career, which took a hit after he was accused of multiple cases of sexual assault in the wake of the #MeToo movement. In the parlance of the times, Spacey was quickly "cancelled."

He was dropped by his Hollywood agent and publicist and fired from Netflix hit "House of Cards." Netflix also shelved "Gore Vidal," a biopic starring Spacey as the late American writer and political gadfly, which had finished production just weeks before the first allegations broke.

Last year, Spacey lost his bid to overturn a $31 million arbitration award he was ordered to pay "House of Cards" producer MRC for sexual misconduct involving young crew members behind the scenes of the series. 

Cut out of 'All the Money in the World'   

Most famously, Ridley Scott and Sony Pictures spent millions in expensive reshoots for the 2017 historical drama "All the Money in the World," casting Christopher Plummer to replace him in the role of J. Paul Getty and digitally scrubbing Spacey from the film. 

Spacey always maintained his innocence and now that he has been acquitted in court of some charges — others were tossed out of court or dropped by prosecutors for lack of evidence — the actor is planning a return to the big screen. 

Sort of. 

Slumming in low-budget D-movies 

Don't expect to see Kevin Spacey heading a Hollywood tentpole or Marvel franchise movie anytime soon.

Instead, "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty" star has been slumming it in the D-movie section, with small parts in obscure, low-budget independent films.

Last year, he had a supporting role in "The Man Who Drew God," an Italian drama directed by and starring Franco Nero. It didn't get released outside Italy and Spacey's dialog was dubbed by a local actor.

Next month he will be heard — but not seen — in "Control," a low-rent British thriller where he plays a threatening voice on a GPS system.

And next year, you can try and catch the "L.A. Confidental" actor in "Peter Five Eight," a British action comedy that is slated for limited release. Thus, it would be premature to call any of these films Spacey's "cinema comeback." 

Europe welcomes 'cancelled' filmmakers 

It's notable that Spacey's job offers, such as they are, are all coming out of Europe, where the film industry is notoriously permissive when it comes to artistic bad behavior, whether actual or alleged. 

Roman Polanski has spent the past 45 years making movies in France and thanks to his French passport, has successfully avoided extradition to the United States on the still-pending charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

Polanski's last feature, "The Palace," premiered out of competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival this year. As did "Coup de chance" by Woody Allen, another filmmaker tarred by allegations of misconduct — by his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow. Allen has found it easier to get his movies financed and distributed on the European continent than in the more judgmental United States. 

And Johnny Depp, who got dropped from the "Harry Potter" spin-off franchise "Fantastic Beasts" amid allegations of spousal abuse by his ex-wife Amber Heard, was cast to play King Louis XV in the poncy French period drama "Jeanne du Barry," which opened this year's Cannes Film Festival. 

Independent film a home for disgraced actors 

But, truth be told, the film industry, particularly the cash-strapped indie sector, has often been known to overlook ethical issues when there's money to be made.

Well before #MeToo, Mel Gibson was supposedly cancelled for public outbursts of homophobic, racist and antisemitic language. But while Gibson became — and remains — persona non grata for some, he never really stopped working.

You might not have seen the highlights of his post-disgrace career: "Get The Gringo," "Machette Kills" and "Dragged Across Concrete." But those movies got made and Gibson got paid for making them. The recent outrage surrounding Gibson's casting in "The Continental," a big-budget TV spin-off of the "John Wick" action film series, only shows how focused most of the media is on Hollywood. For fans of mediocre indie fare, Mel Gibson never went away. 

And neither will Kevin Spacey. As long as there are independent filmmakers who calculate that slapping a "two-time Oscar winner" tag on their trailers and posters can translate into an impulse buy or a few more streaming views from old "House of Cards" fans, Spacey will continue to make movies. Of a sort. Just don't call it a comeback. 

Edited by: Brenda Haas