House of Cards star says Trump is ‘stealing all our good ideas’ – so how much shock value does Frank Underwood still have?
Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright won’t give much away about fifth season of Netflix series about a Machiavellian US president, but concede it is getting harder to tell the difference between fictional and real politicians
We’re sitting in the White House press briefing room in the West Wing, waiting for a press conference with the President of the United States of America.
Everything seems to be in order – there’s the plaque on the wall, the podium flanked by flags and bearing the presidential seal, and some strategically placed television cameras – except that the members of this press corps are in Baltimore, not Washington, and the president is not Donald Trump but Kevin Spacey, who plays President Frank Underwood in the popular Netflix series House of Cards.
The producers of the show have duplicated numerous rooms from the White House – including the famed Oval Office – in a standing set on the outskirts of the American city.
“There are times when you actually think you are in the White House,” says Spacey, who – in a breach of presidential protocol that may even be bigger than White House spokesman Sean Spicer’s odd antics – has chosen to sit in a chair under the podium rather than stand behind it.
“I was at the real one on Sunday, and I walked into one of the hallways, and there was the picture of Bill Clinton, exactly where it should be,” the actor says.
The sets, which are around the same size as the White House rooms and offices they depict, are useful aids for the actors, Spacey says. “We have great sets and great props, and they really help us get into character,” Spacey says. Robyn Wright, who plays first lady Claire in the series, says: “It’s correct right down to the mouldings and the fabrics.”