Kevin Spacey told a U.K. court that although he was “at times promiscuous” it didn’t make him a “bad person” and cited Steven Spielberg’s relationship with his second wife Kate Capshaw, whom he met on the set of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” as an example of a successful relationship that had begun in the workplace.

The actor, who is fighting 12 charges of sexual assault against four men, was in the witness box at Southward Crown Court in London for the second consecutive day on Friday.

Spacey was facing cross examination but Christine Agnew KC, the barrister for the prosecution.

Agnew asked him whether he had found it “thrilling” to take sexual risks. When Spacey asked what she meant by “sexual risks” she replied “one night stands.”

“I have been very open about fact I was at times promiscuous,” the actor said. “It doesn’t make me a bad person.”

“I find being intimate with another human being remarkable and beautiful,” he said, adding that despite Agnew’s focus on one night stands he had been “fortunate” to have a number of meaningful relationships “that have lasted my whole life.”

Agnew also pressed the “House of Cards” actor on whether his celebrity status and power had been a factor in his sexual encounters. “Have you found that due to your status and position people normally did what you wanted?” she asked him.

Spacey laughed and replied: “No.”

“You didn’t find it easier to pick up people because of your star power?” she then asked, to which Spacey said: “I found it hard to trust people because of who I was.”

Agnew also inquired whether the actor had found it “easier” to pick up potential partners because of his status. “I’m sure if I had wanted to I could have had sex all the time with lots of people,” he said. “But I wasn’t. I was mostly interested in developing friendships and relationships with the people in my life.”

Spacey admitted he had at times been lonely during his tenure as artistic director of London theater the Old Vic. Agnew then asked whether the actor had “reached out to people sexually to ease that burden of loneliness” to which Spacey responded “Welcome to life,” before laughing. “Yes I do,” he added.

Agnew also probed Spacey about relationships in the workplace and what was appropriate. “In my industry people do meet in the workspace,” he said although later he clarified: “I would agree it’s complicated when you meet someone in the workspace.”

He then cited Steven Spielberg’s relationship with Kate Capshaw as an example of a relationship which formed in the workplace but has remained strong. “They are married and have children and it’s beautiful people can meet in the workspace. It’s a wonderful thing,” he said.

Towards the end of Spacey’s testimony, which finished at lunchtime, the atmosphere in court began to turn more fractious, with Judge Wall, who is presiding over the case, having to remind the actor to answer the question after he either disagreed with its premise or strayed off topic.

At one point, after a back-and-forth over whether Spacey remembered having dinner with “Quantum of Solace” actor Tim Piggott Smith on the night one of the alleged assaults took place, Spacey – apparently addressing the jury – said: “Tim Piggott Smith, if you don’t know who he is, he was a wonderful actor – ” before Agnew interrupted him. “Mr Spacey Fowler, please, we don’t need to know who Tim Piggott Smith is,” she said sharply before urging him to answer the question.

In the witness box, Spacey denied three of the four men’s accounts, saying he had never grabbed one of the alleged victims on the freeway and had had a consensual sexual encounter with another man whom he’d invited back to his flat.

A third man he said he had never met and had “made up an entire story from beginning to end” about allegedly being grabbed by the genitals backstage at a charity event.

Spacey acknowledged meeting a fourth man, who has accused the actor of trying to kiss him before grabbing his penis at a house party in Gloucestershire, but said it had merely been a “clumsy pass.”

In the afternoon, two witnesses for Spacey gave evidence, saying they had not seen the actor make any lewd comments or sexually aggressive actions at the charity event and disputing the alleged victim’s account that Spacey had turned up to the event looking “dishevelled” and smelling of alcohol.

The case continues.

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