Kevin Spacey interview: Homeless, cancelled and crooning in Cyprus

Last Sunday, Kevin Spacey was to be found on stage in a nightclub in Cyprus, singing That’s Life and Bridge over Troubled Water to an audience who had paid up to €1,200 (£1,060) for the privilege.

Kevin Spacey? Really? The winner of two Academy Awards, star of countless films, Frank Underwood in House of Cards? He has had his ups and downs over the years, from acclaim to cancellation. Few might have predicted this, but there he was, in the Monte Caputo club, on stage in a tuxedo and bow tie, backed by a six-piece band, singing a collection of standards from the American songbook and a few more. Among them, the song, as he would tell me, that speaks most vividly to his life over the past seven years – Who Can I Turn To? – which, given all he has been through, seemed particularly apt.

Monte Caputo, a 1,300-capacity venue on the outskirts of the resort of Limassol, has played host to tribute acts to Queen and AC/DC, and even to Dara Ó Briain, billed here, improbably, as “one of the funniest men in the world”.

This event was promoted as Kevin Spacey: Songs & Stories, for one performance only, “an unforgettable night of music, memories and showmanship with one of the most iconic performers of our time”. Seats priced from €250, with a special VIP platinum package, including a 30-minute “meet and greet”, at €1,200. The dress code specified “cocktail”.

He had arrived at the club that afternoon for a rehearsal, striding in dressed in striped white trousers, a corduroy jacket, a polo shirt and beach shoes, the actor as jazzer it seemed, used to being noticed, with nothing tentative about his manner.

For a couple of hours Spacey and the band worked on a number or two, but much of the time was taken up by problems with the sound – too much echo, that high ringing thing on the piano mic – Spacey pacing the stage impatiently, speaking sharply to a stage hand who had been noticed filming on his phone. At length we adjourned to the dressing room, where he opened a can of Coke.