Kevin Spacey: House Of Cards didn’t copy Russia news … it was lucky plotting
Any similarities between a storyline in House Of Cards and the current tensions between Russia and the West were purely coincidental, the show’s star Kevin Spacey has revealed.
In the latest series of the drama Spacey’s character, US president Frank Underwood, faces up to a Putin-like Russian leader played by Lars Mikkelsen from The Killing.
But the diplomatic face-off was a case of “life imitating art” and not based on real events, the actor said.
He told the Evening Standard’s Deluxe magazine: “In hindsight, it must look one way, but in the actuality it wasn’t premeditated. First we will discuss our themes, then we will write them, then we will shoot them, then we will watch as something that we just shot happens in the world. Then people think we ripped it from the headlines.”
House of Cards world premiere
Spacey also said he was thrilled that the Netflix reinvention of the British drama turned up just as he was imagining life after the Old Vic: “When I was looking down the barrel of leaving the Old Vic, I figured I would have to spend at least five years trying to rebuild my presence in film and television.
“Now I find myself in a show that is so hugely popular, the very thing I thought I would have to make happen has already happened.” Spacey, who leaves the Old Vic this summer after 11 years as artistic director, confirmed he plans to stay in London for now. He added: “It will be exciting choosing what to do over the next few years. Now that I’m freeing myself up from the Old Vic, I’m gonna be able to work with all kinds of theatre.”
He also expressed satisfaction at having quietened critics who questioned his motives: “The three years before I came, I spent studying. And in particular studying theatrical beginnings. There were derisive comments about the National Theatre. There were people calling the Globe a Disneyland theatre. I remember sitting down with my staff early on and saying, ‘Guys. Get ready. They’re going to hate everything we do for a while.’”
But he went on: “Eventually, I said, all the cynicism will die away and they’ll realise I’m still turning up to work every day. And that’s pretty much what happened.”
