With Kevin Spacey busy as artistic director of London’s Old Vic theatre, we haven’t seen a huge amount of him on-screen for the past few years. While he’s still made movies, it certainly hasn’t been at his old pace. Now he’s made the rather unusual move of signing up to star in the Chinese production, Inseparable, which is to be directed by Dayan Eng.
Variety says this makes him the highest profile Hollywood actor ever to star in a wholly Chinese movie.
The film, which will be shot in Mandarin and English, is about a young man (Daniel Wu), who has problems at home and work, and gets befriended by a mysterious ex-pat (Spacey).
China is emerging as the fastest growing market for film on the planet, and while Hollywood has quickly realised that making movies that appeal to Asian punters is a smart idea if they want to maximise their profits, it appears Spacey is trying to stay ahead of the curve on the acting side as well.
Although the likes of Ed Norton and Willem Dafoe hsve previously made films that that were co-productions between Chinese companies and Hollywood, this is the first time someone of Sapcey’s stature has appeared in a solely China-financed movie. However what’s yet to be seen is whether a film like this can crossover back to the English-language market and become a hit there.