Diane Lane does not "judge" Kevin Spacey over his sexual abuse allegations.
Diane Lane
The 53-year-old actress has joined the cast of the Netflix political drama 'House of Cards' for the sixth and final season along with Greg Kinnear and Cody Fern in the wake of Kevin Spacey's departure as Congressman Frank Underwood following the accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct made against him by various men, which started with Anthony Rapp who accused him of making unwanted advances towards him when he was just 14.
Despite the scandal, the Oscar nominated star insists she still has "tremendous respect" for Spacey's craft and she didn't consider his situation when she accepted the role as Annette Shepherd, the scheming childhood friend of Robin Wright's character Claire Underwood.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, she said: "When you look back you see things differently from a different landscape, or through a different filter, rather, and all I can say is ... I have tremendous respect for his artistry and it seemed to me ... you know, I didn't question anything, so to me it was a wonderful opportunity to do what I do and it continued to be that. It's just that some ingredients had shifted around. I didn't have any judgement. It's not my place to have any judgement."
The 'Must Love Dogs' actress has watched with interest the developments of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements which have swept through Hollywood since the expose on Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment and abuse.
Diane has, luckily, never been inappropriately propositioned by any man in the movie industry and she always felt as though she was informed about casting couch culture because her father Burton Eugene Lane was a Manhattan drama coach.
Speaking about the awful experiences some actresses have had to endure, she said: "It certainly didn't darken my door. Now, I don't know if people knew better than to try to approach me like the couch was a verb, because it wasn't ever a verb for me."
Tagged in Diane Lane Kevin Spacey Robin Wright