IT SHOULD have been another celebrated role for Kevin Spacey.

Before the American actor’s world crumbled amid sexual assault allegations he was the star turn in Ridley Scott’s blockbuster All The Money In The World.

The House Of Cards star was replaced by Christopher Plummer, who was nominated for a Golden Globe.

And now the Sussex-based author whose book was adapted for the film has said it is better without the disgraced American actor.

Lewes resident John Pearson, 87, wrote the non-fiction account of the kidnap of Jean Paul Getty III that forms the plot of the movie.

The author met Mr Scott to discuss the story but wasn’t involved in the filming.

Mr Pearson said: “As soon as I heard what happened I thought Plummer must be better than Spacey.

“I had seen footage of what Spacey was doing for the film, and I thought he was all right, but he was far too young to play an old man.

“Whereas Plummer is the same age as me.”

Mr Plummer plays Jean Paul Getty, who refuses to pay the ransom money demanded by his grandson’s captors.

Mr Pearson said there had been four other failed attempts to make a movie of his book, leading him to believe there was a “jinx” against the project.

When he learnt of the allegations against Mr Spacey he thought the movie had suffered another stroke of bad luck.

He said: “The whole thing has been an extraordinary journey for me but at the last minute there was this thing about Kevin Spacey. At first I thought, ‘oh my God’, not again.”

Mr Pearson added that he was never worried about the scandal undermining the movie.

He said: “I didn’t think it would be overshadowed. It was a wonderful chance to show what an amazing director can do when he’s up against it.”

In October last year, actor Anthony Rapp alleged Spacey, real name Kevin Fowler, made a sexual advance towards him in 1986, when he was just 14.

In response, Spacey stated he did not remember the encounter but added that he owed him “the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour”.

Subsequently, 15 others came forward alleging similar episodes of abuse.

Documenting the extraordinary story of the Getty family

IN THE course of researching his book, Mr Pearson spoke extensively to Gail Harris, the mother of Jean Paul Getty III who was kidnapped by a crime ring in Rome in 1973.

Ms Harris battled to keep her son alive while her father-in-law, Jean Paul Getty, refused to pay the ransom fee of 17 million dollars despite being one of the richest men in the world. Mr Pearson travelled to Italy to hear Ms Harris’s story.

The author said: “The whole thing is really rather extraordinary. I became very interested in the family. Gail was one of the most courageous women in that she was responsible for saving her son. “She was trying all the time to get the money to free her boy, but the kidnap went on for eight or nine months.

"She knew something dreadful would happen and then Jean Paul had his ear cut off and sent back in the post.”

Eventually, and under pressure from Ms Harris, Jean Paul Getty III negotiated a severely reduced deal to free his grandson. Mr Pearson said. that the oil tycoon was “obsessed with money and sex” and increasingly isolated from the world.

Gail Harris is played by Michelle Williams in All The Money in the World. Mark Wahlberg plays Fletcher Chase, the CIA operative hired to investigate the case.

Mr Pearson’s book The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins was adapted for the 2015 film Legend starring Tom Hardy.