Watch Kevin Spacey Hilariously Explain How He Broke His Nose

Actors can get a bad rap for being vain, but it’s hard to blame them for worrying about their looks when the work they get is based on their faces. One actor with a surprisingly jovial outlook on his broken nose is Kevin Spacey. In fact, he stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to hilariously regale the studio audience and viewers everywhere with the tale of his nasal mishap. Check it out!

There are many ways for a man to break his nose, and ear/nose/throat doctors like Spacey’s have undoubtedly heard just about every story for how such injuries have occurred, but an actor breaking his nose due to overacting and then not realizing it for four and a half years had to be a new one. Even Kevin Spacey was surprised.

Normally, the circumstances of an injury that went unnoticed for nearly half a decade might have faded from memory, but Spacey’s story behind the broken nose definitely explains why he recalls so clearly. Whacking himself in the nose on stage during a production of Richard III as the hunchback king himself would definitely qualify for a lowlight reel of his career moments. At least he didn’t whack any of his fellow actors with his cane. The story would have been way less funny if he’d broken somebody else’s nose and then come on The Tonight Show to reenact it.

As it is, Kevin Spacey proved himself once again to be both a hysterical storyteller and a very good sport. Not many of us might want to share the story of how we accidentally broke our nose four years ago with a prop cane, but bravo to Spacey for going all out on the reenactment. Still, judging by his joke at the end of the clip, he seems to view his injury with much more of a glass-half-full attitude.

So, just let me say this. All the stuff I’ve been doing for the last four years – running, tennis, concerts, House of Cards - without my full capacity. You just wait til I get this sucker fixed!

Considering all that he’s accomplished over the last four years, it’s almost scary to think of what a Kevin Spacey at full capacity could be capable of, and his dance card isn’t getting any emptier despite having only one nostril currently in play. After a spellbinding first three seasons of House of Cards, Season 4 is set to premiere on March 4 on Netflix, and the series has already been renewed for Season 5. He’ll also be bringing a few oddball characters to the big screen with roles in Elvis & Nixon, Nine Lives, and Boss Baby.

Broken nose or no broken nose, Kevin Spacey has definitely been a busy guy, so we’re just lucky that he made time to stop by The Tonight Show and share his story. It’ll give us something to desperately watch a few extra times as we wait for the new season of House of Cards.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).