Kevin Spacey reveals why he demanded to be left off the credits for Se7en as thriller is added to Netflix

While Kevin Spacey being left off the opening credits of Se7en may now seem like a smart move due to his numerous controversies, this was once a surprising event.

The actor was just coming off the back of The Usual Suspects and was a huge name, arguably bigger than Brad Pitt, who had yet to star in Fight Club.

This was not the choice of the studio either, as Spacey himself demanded to be left off the opening credits for the film.

Se7en, which has been added to Netflix today, stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as police detectives investigating a serial killer.

Spacey plays the serial killer John Doe, with the character being present throughout the first hour and a half of the film.

This is all off screen though, and represented through riddles and crimes, with Spacey not actually appearing on screen until the 90-minute mark.

Spacey, however, wasn’t even director David Fincher’s first or even second choice for the role.

Though Brad Pitt pushed for Spacey to be cast, initially the role was offered to Michael Stipe, the lead singer of R.E.M.

Stipe couldn’t accept however, due to the band’s touring schedule, and so the role was offered to another.

They then cast another actor, who has not been named, but after a week of shooting, they were reportedly fired.

Spacey revealed this on the Lex Friedman podcast, where he also revealed he demanded to be left out the credits.

He stars as the psychotic John Doe in the film (New Line Cinema)

When the disgraced Oscar winner explained why, however, it actually makes a lot of sense.

He stated that, when told he had actually won the role after another actor was fired, he had them send him the script for him to re-read before agreeing.

He said on the podcast: “I had this feeling that it would be really good if I didn’t take billing in the film.

“The reason I felt was because I knew that by the time this film would come out it would be the last one of the three movies that I just shot, the fourth one, and if any of those films broke through or did well if it was going to be ‘Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kevin Spacey’.

“If you don’t show up for the first 25, 30, 40 minutes people are going to figure out who you’re playing.”

Doe turns himself in (New Line Cinema)

The actor not only didn’t show up in the film’s opening credits, but he also wasn't in the posters for the movies or VHS.

Spacey said New Line Cinema, the film’s distributor, told him to go ‘f**k himself’.

The actor revealed that Fincher was the deciding vote, claiming he felt it was a ‘cool idea’.

Spacey and New Line Cinema made a compromise, and the actor was the first name to appear in the end credits.

Spacey has remained out of the limelight for some time, after being accused of multiple sexual assaults, of which he was found not guilty in 2023.

Se7en is now available to watch on Netflix in the UK and Ireland.