Kevin zu Gast in David Lettermans Late-Show (11. August 1998) (Quelle:spacey.com)

Letterman: Our first guest is an Academy Award Winning actor who currently stars as a nego-
tiator in the motion picture, The Negotiator. Ladies and gentlemen, here's the talented
Kevin Spacey.

Letterman: You look good . . . that's a nice suit . . . how you doing?

Spacey: I'm great . . . that's a nice welcome home.

Letterman: How's your summer going?

Spacey: I've been in London for the last 5 and a half months.

Letterman: Good for you . . . that sounds like a great job . . . working on a . . . you were
doing a play?

Spacey: I was doing a play. I was doing a production of The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill
which we started . . .

Letterman: It's like 4 hours long.

Spacey: It's exactly 4 hours long. Not *like* 4 hours long...it *is* 4 hours long.

Letterman: Runs precisely 4 hours long every night?

Spacey: It's about 4 hours unless I talk fast.

Letterman: That's how they write plays, to time not really by act or anything? "We need
a 4 hour play here!"

Spacey: Yeah, and we found it and we decided to do it and we might even bring it here.

Letterman: Is it gruelling work?

Spacey: It's exhilarating and it's gruelling at the same time. But we had a big success there
and it was great fun.

Letterman: And well received, I would guess, by the British people?

Spacey: Very well received.

Letterman: Now do you feel a sense of responsibility doing live theatre in London? I mean
that must conjure all manner of interesting images of the past and people you admired as
a thespian?

Spacey: Yeah exactly, and we've had alot of great . . . a lot of the great actors come and
see the show. We had just about two weeks ago . . . Peter O'Toole came and saw the show
at the Old Vic and the Old Vic was where Laurence Olivier started the National Theatre and he
came backstage . . . was very gracious and I asked him if in fact the dressing room we were in
was the dressing room that he used to occupy. He looked around the room and he said, "Yes, that
was my table over there . . . that was Laurence Olivier's table over there [pointing] and he used to
get very angry because I kept the beer in the shower, over there [pointing]." And I said, "Well we've
kept that up because we keep the Vodka in the toilet."

Letterman: Whoa! When you're abroad that long do you miss home? You gotta miss home . . .
oh well London . . . man . . . if you're gonna be someplace for that length of time, why not London?

Spacey: Well, it's great. The one thing I did miss was my dog.

Letterman: Oh, you can't take your dog there?

Spacey: No, they have a quarantine.

Letterman: They quarantine them for like how long . . . something like six years?

Spacey: Six months . . . yeah something like six years . . . um for six months and so since we
extended our trip there, I decided I couldn't stand it anymore and I went out and I got a new puppy.
There's a great dog home there called the Battersea Dog's Home and I went out and I got a little
tiny . . we call her Mini in fact. She's about this big [uses his hands to show how small Mini is] and
she's a Mongrel mixed with a Jack Russell Terrier. And she's incredibly cute. I have a picture . . .
I have a shot.

Letterman: Oh, that's a handsome looking dog.[shows audience the picture]

Spacey: She's wet in the photo 'cause she likes to get in the shower and then she runs around
the house like she's on crack.

Spacey: Well that's cause I feed her Kibbles and Crack . . . you know . . . a new dog treat . . . um
. . . no . . . she's incredibly adorable . . . she's about now in house training . . . she's about . . .
we're about 50% inside the house and 50% outside the house . . . so the balance of crap is shifting.

Letterman: And you're sure it's going the way you want it to go?

Spacey: I hope so

Letterman: I would hope so too . . . now what does this say about your old dog . . . now your old dog . . .
you take off for 5 months and suddenly get a new dog . . . and your old dog is left who knows
where?

Spacey: Yeah but I got a girl, he'll be fine.

Letterman: Are you sure?

Spacey: Oh yeah!

Letterman: What kind of dog is the other one?

Spacey: I have a black Lab mixed with a Belgian Shepherd.

Letterman: Oh, well, that's a monster dog isn't it?

Spacey: What do you mean monster dog?

Letterman: It's a big, big dog.

Spacey: No, no it's a tiny dog you see, he's about 50 pounds.

Letterman: Oh, well bigger than Mini?

Spacey: Well much bigger than Mini . . . Mini's about this big but she's got the car now in London.
I kept her there because I'm going back to do a film in September and that way I can have
her in Ireland. I have to go in quarantine though when I go back. It's a strange thing, I don't know
why.

Letterman: But it has to do with rabies doesn't it?

Spacey: I think so.

Letterman: Absolutely . . . of course it does . . . I'll tell you what . . . we'll pause here . . . we'll return with
Kevin Spacey.

Letterman: Kevin Spacey is here, Bobby Rahal, Harvey Danger. You know anything about racing?

Spacey: I drive really fast and I probably shouldn't.

Letterman: I'll tell you something. Those cars don't even have floormats . . . okay . . . just think
about that! You received some kind of honorary Idle while you . . . Idle? Title!

Spacey: You all right?

Letterman: I'm a little woozy . . . it was methanol. [Laughter] You received an honorary title while
you were in London.

Spacey: Yes I did . . . I was in London and I got a letter from Jack Lemmon who I did . . .

Letterman: Wow! There ya go!

Spacey: There ya go . . . but that's not the title . . . what happened was . . . Jack wrote me a letter.

Spacey: [doing Lemmon impersonation] "Slow down cowboy."
Jack got me the . . . Jack . . . are you guys all right? [referring to the audience] . . . Jack . . .
Jack wrote me this letter . . . and the last time I was in London I did a production of
Long Day's Journey which was another Eugene O'Neill play.

Letterman: Boy, you're serious aren't you? You're just working and working . . .

Spacey: Yeah, I like it.

Letterman: Well . . . not The Lion King stuff . . . you're going for the heavy . . .
It's not like you're putting a big furry costume on.

Spacey: Well how do you know? You haven't seen the show yet . . . I do wear a big
furry costume in Act III.

Letterman: Really?

Spacey: No I don't . . . YEEEEEEE . . . so he wrote me a letter and he said, "How dare you play
London without me." . . . he said [doing Lemmon impersonation], "I'll have you know when I
played London with you . . . the critics said if I'd been born British I would now be Lord Lemmon
. . . I bet you'd be nothing but a friggin Sir."

Spacey: So a very close friend of mind took this as a challenge and decided to make me
"Lord Kevin Spacey."

Letterman: Now you can't just do that . . .

Spacey: Apparently you can . . . what you can get for 25 American bucks is amazing . . . but . . .
. . . it's so . . . it's actually . . . it's actually . . . I'm telling you this is legitimate because it would
not be on my credit card if it weren't true.

Letterman: Oh good heavens it's right there . . . That makes it seem like it's your name more than a title
really . . . can you see that there?

Spacey: It's true . . . Now the embarrassing thing is when you go to 7-Eleven, you're buying a six-pack
with this thing . . . this is a . . . little embarrassing.

Letterman: I think you're gonna . . . wanna copy that number . . . want me to hold it for awhile?
Wow! Platinum Select . . . nice going . . . well congratulations . . .

Spacey: What I like about it is my friend . . . while he made me a Lord, he made himself a Count.
Well it's kind of a two for one deal.

Letterman: You go to like the equivalent of a courthouse or something and you say, "I've got a friend . . .
here's the money . . . "

Spacey: I have no idea how it happened . . . but I think we can make you a Duke.

Letterman: Thank you . . . Do you have responsibilities that go with this?

Spacey: Um . . . I don't know what they are yet but I think I have a thousand year reign.

Letterman: Let's take a look at the film . . . The Negotiator . . . and it's you and Samuel L. Jackson . . .

Spacey: Yeah.

Letterman: Who's damn good . . . this is two great actors in this film . . . I don' t mean to embarrass you
but really is . . . you guys are great.

Spacey: Thank you.

Letterman: Tell the folks what we're gonna see.

Spacey: Uh . . . this is a scene where we confront each other in a building where he's holding hostages.

Letterman: He's like a top negotiator . . . you're a negotiator . . . a hostage negotiator . . .

Spacey: Exactly . . . he's been framed for something and he's asked to only negotiate with me
and so this is him and I sorta facing off.

Letterman: Pretty good . . . The Negotiator . . . This thing is making money isn't it? It's like a
big, bit hit?

Spacey: Yeah.

Letterman: So now you and some of your dogs are back to Europe to do another play?

Spacey: I'm going back to Ireland to do a picture there so I'll pick up Mini in London
where she's with friends now and . . . in Ireland . . . and there's no quarantine on the
way out so I'll be able to bring her back to the States.

Letterman: And everybody will be reunited . . . You and the dogs could be on the show.

Spacey: Yeah, I will, I'll bring them over.

Letterman: Nice to see you again.

Spacey: Nice to see you