Robin Wright speaks of 'second chances' for disgraced House of Cards co-star Kevin Spacey

Despite the number of allegations of sexual misconduct against Kevin Spacey  and his very public fall from grace as one of Hollywood's elite — Robin Wright has suggested that her disgraced former co-star should get a "second chance". 

During an interview with Net-a-Porter, Wright stated that she believed Spacey, who starred as Frank Underwood alongside her in Netflix's flagship series, House of Cards, may have the "ability to reform".

Wright is currently promoting the sixth and final season of House of Cards, the first in which she will star alone as Claire Underwood, without Spacey who played her husband. She has also directed the final series, which will be released on Netflix on November 12, more than five years after the series premiered in February 2013. 

Explaining her controversial opinion, the actress said:“I believe every human being has the ability to reform....In that sense, second chances, or whatever you are going to call it – absolutely, I believe in that. It’s called growth.”

However, Wright has also revealed that the final series was lucky to be made at all, as she stated that following claims of sexual misconduct by Spacey, the series came “very, very close,” to being cancelled. 

She said: “Because of the climate at that time. The air was thick, you know. Harvey Weinstein… People were [saying], ‘We have to shut everything down or otherwise it will look like we are glorifying and honoring this thing that’s dirty.'" 

However, Wright was adamant that the show should go on as she felt committed to its ardent fans: "I believed we should finish. I believed we should honor our commitment. To the people that loved the show," she said.

Wright also shared her concern for those who would be out of work without the show: "They printed that it was ‘only’ 600 people out of work, but if you include security, cops, shooting on location in Baltimore, everything, 2,500 people would have been out of a job. And that’s not fair — to take that security away from those people… They didn’t do anything [wrong].”

Despite her belief that Spacey should have a shot at reforming himself, she did state that she would not be reaching out to the actor, but instead wait for him to approach her. "He’ll reach out when he’s ready, I’m sure. I think that’s the way it should go," she said.

In July, during an interview with American network NBC's Today show, Wright admitted that while she and her co-workers "were all surprised of course and saddened" by the allegations against him, she did not really know Spacey. 

"We were co-workers — really we never socialised outside of work," she said, "I didn't know the man, I knew the incredible craftsmen that he is."

House of Cards will return to Netflix on November 2 with eight final episodes.