Paul Schrader wants Kevin Spacey to play Frank Sinatra in biopic

Paul Schrader has spoken to Kevin Spacey about playing the actor in a Frank Sinatra biopic, despite numerous allegations still being made against the actor. Spacey faces a civil trial in Britain in 2025 over allegations for which he was acquitted in a criminal court there last year. A new British documentary airing on Channel 4 also features allegations from ten men of sexual offenses committed by the actor.

Writer/director Schrader told Variety that he was in contact with Spacey about portraying an older Sinatra in a film.

“Cancel culture won’t let him go,” Schrader said of Spacey, pointing out that the actor was acquitted of sexual assault charges against four men in 2023. “He’s reading a book about how Charlie Chaplin was deposed.”

Schrader added of the potential biopic: “I wouldn't use Kevin if he had been convicted. But he wasn’t convicted.”

Schrader's latest film, “Oh, Canada,” premieres at Cannes, and the filmmaker has already announced a “post-Deading” feature film about sexual obsession.

Meanwhile, Schrader's Taxi Driver collaborator Martin Scorsese is developing his own Sinatra biopic with Leonardo DiCaprio in talks to direct it. Jennifer Lawrence is set to play Ava Gardner, who was Sinatra's second wife after Nancy Barbato. Lawrence and DiCaprio starred in Don't Look Up. Variety reported that Sony is engaged in a bidding war for the project.

Schrader's potential Sinatra, Spacey, recently attended an interview on X with British journalist Dan Wooton ahead of the Channel 4 documentary Spacey Unmasked, which will air in the US on ID and Max. The documentary features interviews with 10 accusers.

“I take full responsibility for my past behavior and actions,” Spacey said. “But I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who made up things about me or told exaggerated stories about me.”

Spacey was on trial for sexual harassment and sexual assault. The incidents are said to have occurred between 2004 and 2013, when the actor was director of London's famous Old Vic Theatre. Spacey “claimed that of the four charges, two were consensual, one was a 'clumsy pass,' and the fourth never occurred at all,” previous reports said. Spacey was also acquitted in the US of sexual assault charges against actor Anthony Rapp and six others.

Spacey was first accused of inappropriate advances in 2017, which led to his exit from “House of Cards” and Ridley Scott's feature film “All the Money in the World,” among others. Spacey recently starred in two dramas that were previously shelved by distributors.

IndieWire has reached out to Schrader's representatives for further comment.