LONDON (AP) — Kevin Spacey took a dramatic pause in his testimony Thursday and appeared to almost choke up as he recalled the “intimate” and “somewhat sexual” friendship he shared with a man now accusing the actor of violently groping him, saying he was “crushed” when he learned of the allegations.

“I never thought that (the man) I knew would ... 20 years later stab me in the back,” Spacey testified in his own defense in his sexual assault trial in what could be the most consequential speaking part of his life.

Spacey was earnest — humble at times and self-deprecating at others — as he breezed over his career and then fast-forwarded to the early 2000s when he was in London working at the Old Vic Theatre.

Four men have accused the two-time Oscar winner of sexually assaulting them between 2001 and 2013, describing disturbing encounters that escalated from unwanted touching to aggressive crotch grabbing. One man who called Spacey a “vile sexual predator” said he passed out or fell asleep at the actor’s London flat and woke up to find the actor performing oral sex on him.

Prosecutor Christine Agnew has called Spacey a “sexual bully” who "delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable.

Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges that include sexual and indecent assault counts and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

One of his accusers said Spacey on several occasions over the years had touched his inner thigh, buttocks and crotch in unwelcome ways that made him uncomfortable.

The fondling culminated when the man was driving Spacey one time and the actor forcefully grabbed his crotch so violently that he almost ran off the road, the man had testified.

The alleged victim told police said he told Spacey to never do it again and threatened to knock him out.

“That never happened,” Spacey testified. “I was not on a suicide mission in any of those years.”

He described the relationship much differently, appearing wistful as he looked at a photo the man had sent him from a mountainous trek he took to raise money for charity.

Spacey said the man was funny and charming and recalled their flirtatious time together, saying he probably took the lead in making physical contact: “I'm a big flirt.”

Slowly, they began touching each other, Spacey said, but it never went much further, because the man made it clear he didn't want that.

“He said things like, ‘This is new for me,’ so I think he may have been surprised by his reaction,” Spacey said. “The only thing he made clear was he didn’t want to go further than we were going and I respected that.”

Spacey's description of gentle stroking was in direct contradiction to what the alleged victims testified about. They said he caught them by surprise when he aggressively grabbed their privates through their clothing.

“It wasn’t like a caress," one man testified. "It was like a cobra coming out and getting hold.”

Spacey called that man's account “madness” and said it never happened.

Spacey poked a hole in the driver's story by calling the timing of the account into question. The man testified he was grabbed while driving Spacey in 2004 or 2005 to an annual gala that Elton John holds.

Spacey presented work schedules and itineraries that showed he was filming far away — once in Australia — those years. He said he only attended the event in 2001.

The man said he could have had the dates wrong, but that he remembered the groping incident being the last straw. He said he stopped spending time around him after that incident.

Spacey testified that the man still has photos of the two of them together on social media.

Spacey began his testimony by breezing over his career, joking that his mother would say that he began acting the moment he emerged from the womb.

The American actor was one of the biggest stars of the silver and small screens when sexual misconduct accusations brought his career to a halt. If convicted, he could face a prison term that would doom his hopes of a comeback.

Spacey told German magazine Zeit in an article published last month: “There are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London.”

Spacey, who owns homes in London and the U.S., is free on unconditional bail.