The Hollywood star, 62, was ushered into Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning amid a media scrum after he got out of a silver Mercedes.
Spacey, wearing a pale blue suit, dark spotted tie and white shirt, smiled as he entered the building.
The charges, which were read out by the court’s legal adviser, include two counts of sexual assault on a man, now in his 40s, in London in March 2005; sexual assault on a man, now in his 30s, and causing him to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, in London in August 2008; and sexual assault on a man, now in his 30s, in Gloucestershire in April 2013.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorised charges against Spacey last month, but the American could only be formally charged once he had travelled to the UK earlier this week.