KEVIN Spacey believes that his decision to play Lex Luthor in Superman Returns will only help to raise the profile of the Old Vic in London and further the educational programmes he continues to run for children of all ages.

The star has been Artistic Director of the south London theatre for the past two years and still has plenty to achieve as part of his 10-year plan.

His Superman commitments meant that he was forced to leave his role in The Philadelphia Story last year in order to film his scenes as Lex Luthor in Sydney.

But while audiences may have been disappointed to have missed out on seeing the Oscar-winning actor as part of the show’s ensemble cast, he maintains that it was the correct decision in the long-run of the theatre.

“I wasn’t the star of the show and at the end of the day I thought it would provide benefits for the Old Vic because I’m about to be introduced to a whole generation of kids who’ve never probably seen the movies that I’ve been in.

“Maybe they are kids who have never been to a play. So just as all those kids came out to see Gandalf [Sir Ian McKellen] when he did the pantomime for us, maybe all those kids will want to come out and see Lex Luthor. And that’s fine.”

There have been many harsh criticisms of Spacey’s production schedule at the Old Vic during his time in London, while his most recent show, Resurrection Blues was forced to close early due to poor ticket sales and lukewarm reviews.

Sadly, not much has been made of the terrific work that’s going on elsewhere, in support of attracting younger audiences to the theatre and opening up a world of possibility within the arts.

“At the Old Vic we produce plays and put them on, as that’s obviously the primary function of the theatre company, but there’s a huge amount of work that we do that I put under the umbrella of our social responsibility and our social enterprise,” explained Spacey while promoting Superman.

“That’s the educational programmes and the amount of work that we’re doing in about 6,000 schools this year [it was 3,000 last year].

“We have a programme called Soap Box which goes out to schools and we’re now bringing in about 500 educators to educate them about how to use the tools of theatre as an educational means, to help kids learn how to collaborate with each other and stand up in front of their classmates and peers.

“If it’s on the Old Vic stage then what a great experience, because I know when I look out at those kids that [being on stage], for me, was the beginning of my own self confidence.

“Whether or not these kids want to go into the arts or become actors, that’s not the point, it’s about what it can do to them and the incredible far-reaching effects it can have on kids. Especially all the people and kids that live around the Old Vic, which is very low income housing.

“One of the things we did last year was to go around and knock on all the doors with an educational officer and ask if they’d ever been in the Old Vic. Incredibly, 98% of people had never been in the Old Vic. Why? Because they thought it was the place where all the rich people went at 7pm and that it had nothing to do with their lives.

“But we brought them in and over the past 18 months, we’ve brought in about 1,500 families and hundreds of kids into the workshops. Now they see free performances or £5 performances [for those that live in the South Bank area].

“It’s great to see these black families, Asian families and Muslim families. We live in one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world but how often do we see it represented on stage? Or how often do we see that kind of audience being built? That’s been a huge part of our effort.”

Spacey has been a huge supporter of the arts since an early age. Indeed, he knew he wanted to act at the age of eight and began to pursue a career in the arts as soon as he was old enough.

“I always felt very grateful that I found out so early because so many of my friends who went to college would say, four years later, “what are you going to do?” Or, “I’ve changed my major”.

“I didn’t spend as many teenage years grappling with what the hell I was going to do with my life.”

The actor was also fortunate enough to come into the arts at a time when there was plenty of support for them in his home country of America.

“I was the recipient of an enormous amount of opportunities and experiences from the ages of 10 until 18 or 19. In school in southern California at the time, there was an enormous amount of money from the government in schools for the arts.

“When [President] Reagan got in, all that money got taken away. I think they were building Star Wars shields or something. And when it came back, it essentially went into sports which is always the dilemma of where you’re putting money that’s going into school programmes.

“But I was fortunate enough to be growing up at a good time and I cannot begin to tell you the number of workshops, seminars, Q&As, professional performances that we would go to in which, as drama students, we were afforded the opportunity to meet professionals and to work with them.

“I was 13-years-old when I first met Jack Lemmon at a seminar for a play they were doing. I just shyly walked up to him and asked him to sign a photograph.

“Then when I asked him what I should do if I was going to really be serious about becoming an actor, he suggested going to New York to study.

“Eleven years later, I ended up auditioning for him and got this wonderful experience of doing a play with him. After that, he became a hugely important and influential person in my life.

“So part of what we’re doing at the Old Vic is about knowing that there aren’t so many programmes around that still do that.”

It’s hard not to be impressed by Spacey’s commitment to the Old Vic and the work that seems to go largely unsung. But having mentioned Jack Lemmon, he felt compelled to add a nice little anecdote that has remained with him and is now being fully realised as part of his ongoing work with the theatre.

“I mentioned Jack Lemmon but the truth is he used to say something that I’ve co-opted to myself because it’s such a great way to phrase what it is that I’m trying to do.

“Jack always said that if you’ve done well enough in your business, then it’s your obligation to send the elevator back down. I thought that was a great way of saying it.”

Long may the elevator keep working…

Read our review of Superman Returns

Kevin Spacey talks about Lex Luthor

Old Vic: Autumn Season 2006

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