Kevin Spacey’s consummate artistry is even more evident when you can’t see him. Aided by pitch-perfect intonations, his immeasurably magnetic voice conjures up a vision of him even across thousands of kilometres. Last week, on a conference call crowded with international journalists, the actor fielded questions about the fifth season of Netflix’s blockbuster, House of Cards . Despite (or perhaps because of) the show’s eerie echoes with current American politics, he resolutely stayed away from drawing comparisons with Donald Trump and Frank Underwood, the fictional US President he plays. All other questions about the show were fair game.
While he’s gained international recognition through his many award-winning films — American Beauty , Se7en , The Usual Suspects — as well as through his ongoing association with House of Cards , Spacey likes crediting theatre as a central influence in his development as an actor.
“The opportunity to go to London to do a play or two every year, and to work with directors — just the sheer knowledge you gain performing night after night [adds to your acting abilities]. I can say with some confidence: I don’t think I could have tackled the show without those experiences behind me,” he says.
Transition and preparation
Spacey’s nearly 11-year tenure as director at the London theatre, the Old Vic (2003-2015), turned around the fortunes of the flailing theatre. While it wasn’t an easy decision to move into a more dedicated television role, he mentions that towards the end of his tenure, both he and his staff were comfortable with him going off to a long-term role elsewhere.
House of Cards is his current muse, where he is involved deeply in the entire process of planning, conceptualising and shooting. “It’s not like I turn up on the set and am just handed the script,” he says.
The preparation for each season begins about a year earlier, mostly in the middle of the season being aired. Initially, a “Bible” is put together — character development arcs, new plot lines and characters, and the potential direction of the show. This long process, which involves multiple debates and discussions, culminates in the formal writing process, where a couple of writers are assigned to each episode. “Due to this gestation period, I’m able to prepare because I’m a part of that process. It’s a much more organic and creative process,” he explains, adding, “Every season we want to peel back a little bit more of the onion and uncover more about the characters. I’m really having the time of my life because it keeps getting better.”
While he avoids discussing real-world politics, he does mention that, quite often, audiences get the impression that the show is inspired by real-world events. On the contrary, he quips that the opposite is true. “We decide storylines and the plots we want to do. Sometimes, when we shoot and the series drops, it feels similar to real-world events,” says Spacey. “Occasionally, people might assume the show stole something from the headlines. But generally it’s the other way round.”
Keeping an open mind
We ask him about how he manages to portray complicated relationships between spouses, without being judgemental — right from being in a bisexual open relationship as Underwood, to playing an emasculated husband in American Beauty . Spacey’s thoughtful response is that the human heart has often been open to, and sometimes sadly closed to, the fact that people respond to other human beings. Often, traditional notions of a relationship have backed down other non-conventional notions.
“I try not to take a moral position regardless of what they might do or feel. My job is not to judge. The audience can decide what they feel,” he says. “When you tell a personal story, sometimes prejudice can fall away. In its place, we might get the incredibly valuable response of understanding, empathy and acceptance for exploring all kinds of different relationships.”
Can House of Cards sustain the frenetic pace it’s hurtling forward at? Spacey thinks it can. “Our intention from the beginning was to push the boundaries. [Director] David Fincher used to tell me, ‘let’s see just how dark the place is from which these characters come from.’ We have no interest in taming the show and I don’t think our fans do either.”
As for future possibilities, Spacey is reluctant to venture how long the show might last, or whether there are likely to be spin-offs. “That’s like asking me to predict the future. As clever as I might like to be, that’s something I’ve never been able to tackle.”
House of Cards, season 5, premières on Zee Café at 5 pm today.
