Beyond the Sea (film) portray Bobby Darin, but the filmmakers believed the actor was too old. Around this time, Spacey coincidentally performed the cover version of Darin's "That Old Black Magic" for the soundtrack of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". The actor explained that after 1994, "at least three times a year, my manager would call over to Warner Bros. and say, 'Hey, what's happening with that Bobby Darin movie? You guys ever going to make it?'" With filming to originally begin in late 1997, pre-production for "Dreamer" was commencing, and Levinson began to discuss the film with various actors. This
Kevin Spacey Captain Georg von Trapp with Winningham as Maria von Trapp. He started using his middle name "Spacey", which is also his paternal grandmother's maiden name. Spacey had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, as a member of Group 12, where he studied drama with teacher Marian Seldes between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, he performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests. Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of "Henry VI, Part 1" in 1981.