Faye Dunaway will appear in Italian paedophilia drama The Man Who Drew God, which features Kevin Spacey in a small role as part of the latter’s attempt to resuscitate his acting career after numerous allegations of sexual misconduct over the past four years.

According to Variety, the film’s producer Louis Nero says Dunaway will play a “braille teacher who is an old friend of the blind protagonist”; the latter is played by veteran Italian film-maker Franco Nero, who also directs. Vanessa Redgrave, who is married to the director, was widely reported to have been cast in the film, but a statement from her agent in May denied she had agreed to appear. Variety quotes Louis Nero as saying: “It’s the role that Vanessa Redgrave was meant to have. Vanessa isn’t up to travelling any more.”

Spacey has a small role as a police detective opposite Franco Nero, who plays an artist who is wrongly accused of sexually abusing children. The film has reportedly finished shooting and is currently in postproduction.

Spacey’s acting career was abruptly halted in 2017 after a series of accusations by more than 20 men alleging sexual misconduct by the actor when he was working at the Old Vic in London between 1995 and 2013.

Actor Anthony Rapp has claimed that Spacey made a sexual advance when he was 14 and Spacey was 26. Spacey claimed not to remember the encounter but added: “… if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” Spacey denies all other accusations of misconduct.

He was subsequently dropped from Netflix’s House of Cards and was replaced by Christopher Plummer in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World.

Promoting the film in Cannes, Louis Nero said he was not unhappy with the controversy. “We have plenty of interest from buyers around the world,” he said. “All the controversy around the film has generated plenty of interest … It was good for the film, from my point of view.”