Kevin Spacey has revived his bizarre Christmas tradition of delivering a speech to the public – this time, dressed as his House of Cards character Frank Underwood.
Spacey, 64, often records a festive message to his fans at Christmas, with previous addresses touching on topics such as suicide awareness.
The actor posted a seven-minute video to his YouTube channel on Sunday (24 December) in conversation with former Fox News political commentator Tucker Carlson.
Kevin Spacey in conversation with Tucker Carlson— (YouTube / Kevin Spacey)
Despite Frank being killed off ahead of the sixth season of the Netflix drama, following allegations of sexual misconduct made against Spacey in 2017, the actor has revived the character on several occasions since.
Over the course of the interview, lines between reality and fiction are intentionally blurred, as Carlson addresses Frank as a real political figure as well as making reference to how they are both perceived by the public.
At one point, the pair bond over being let go from their previous networks. As well as Spacey being dropped from Netflix, Carlson was cut from Fox News’s roster in April.
“It is bizarre that they decided to publicly cut ties with me on allegations alone – allegations that have now been proven false,” Spacey says of the streaming company. “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.”
Earlier this year in July, Spacey was found not guilty of sexually assaulting four men at a trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court.
Spacey as Frank Underwood from ‘House of Cards'— (YouTube / Kevin Spacey)
During the conversation with Tucker, ‘Frank’ states his belief in free speech, the idea that this generation of voters has been “coddled” and his desire to bring the adults back into the room.
“We are far too close to having a bean bag chair in the Oval Office; we’ve coddled everybody,” he tells Carlson. “Okay, you think you’re a rabbit, that’s fine, but let me tell you something: you sure as hell aren’t gonna see someone walking through my White House in bunny ears and a tail unless it’s Easter.”
In the clip, Spacey also employs a typical feature of the Golden Globe-winning series, of ‘Frank’ turning to the camera and directly addressing the audience with his more private thoughts.
After telling Carlson about how Christmas is about listening to festive music and embracing “all the things that make this a special day”, he turns to the camera and admits: “The truth is, I love nothing better on this day than to do a line of blow, drink a whiskey and coke, hit a reindeer with my car, and wish you all the naughtiest Christmas ever.”
Viewers have shared their mixed reviews of the clip, with one commenter calling it “the most insane Christmas tradition of all time”.
Another remarked: “The line between parody and reality is so very thin.”
Others were more positive, with one commenter writing: “Fingers crossed that Kevin Spacey runs for President of the USA in-character as Frank Underwood 24/7.”
