Kevin Spacey given lifetime achievement award by Italy’s National Museum of Cinema | Film

Kevin Spacey has received a lifetime achievement award from the National Museum of Cinema in a ceremony in Turin, Italy. Spacey was given the Stella della Mole award by Vittorio Sgarbi, undersecretary to the Italian ministry of culture.

In remarks quoted by the Hollywood Reporter, Sgarbi said: “Tonight we’re witnessing Kevin Spacey’s comeback … The one living through cinema is an immortal man, and it is precisely him that we are awarding this prize to tonight.”

In response, Spacey said he thanked the museum for having “the courage, the balls, to invite me”.

He also thanked his manager Evan Lowenstein, saying: “I respect him professionally as well as personally, because of our friendship. It’s thanks to him that I realised I had to take all the setbacks and mistakes I made and get back on my feet, move on.”

Spacey, who is best known for his roles in the Netflix series House of Cards and films including The Usual Suspects and American Beauty and was artistic director at the Old Vic between 2004 and 2015, will go on trial in June in the UK for a number of sexual offences, including indecent assault, sexual assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. Spacey has denied all charges.