Bryan Cranston expressed some controversial thoughts during a recent interview with BBC in which he said the possibility of Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein making a comeback following multiple allegations of sexual harassment and abuse isn’t entirely out of the question. Cranston said both disgraced men could find a way back into Hollywood’s good graces if they show society they are “truly sorry.”
“It would take time, it would take a society to forgive them, and it would take tremendous contrition on their part,” Cranston said. “And a knowingness that they have a deeply rooted psychological and emotional problem and it takes years to mend that. If they were to show us that they put the work in and were truly sorry and making amends and not defending their actions but asking for forgiveness then maybe down the road there is room for that. Maybe so. Then it would be up to us to determine, case by case, whether or not this person deserves a second chance.”
Both Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstien have been accused of sexual assault and abuse by multiple men and women, respectively. The allegations in both cases have ranged from attempted sexual advances to rape. Cranston told the BBC that should both men get to a point where they put in the work to correct their “psychological and emotional problem” that the public should be willing to accept them back.
“We should let that open,” he said. “We shouldn’t close it off and say, ‘To hell with him, rot, and go away from us for the rest of your life.’ Let’s not do that. Let’s be bigger than that. Let’s leave it open for the few who can make it through that gauntlet of trouble and who have reclaimed their life and their dignity and their respect for others. Maybe it’s possible.”
Cranston previously made headlines for similar thoughts about President Trump. “It would be egotistical for anyone to say, ‘I hope he fails.’ To that person, I would say, ‘F— you. Why would you want that? So you can be right?'” he said.
Cranston currently stars in Richard Linklater’s “Last Flag Flying,” now playing in select theaters. Watch Cranston’s full BBC interview here.
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