President Claire Underwood
“My turn.”
Those two words — which closed the Season 5 finale of “House of Cards” — could not have been more prophetic.
When the Netflix political potboiler returns for its sixth and final season on Nov. 2, Robin Wright’s first-lady-turned-commander-in-chief Claire Underwood will be in the seat of power.
The character was always slated to move into the Oval Office, but with the hasty exit of star Kevin Spacey amid sexual harassment allegations, the transition was cemented.
Production was already underway when BuzzFeed published an interview on Oct. 29, 2017, with Anthony Rapp, detailing sexual abuse at the hands of Spacey when Rapp was just 14.
The #MeToo firestorm, which had sparked a few weeks earlier with accusations against Harvey Weinstein, soon engulfed Spacey, as multiple allegations of similar behavior came to light. Netflix and MRC, the studio that produces “House of Cards,” quickly shut down production; on Nov. 3, the actor was fired.
The revelations and the lightning-speed fallout left cast and crew reeling. “We were all very shocked and surprised,” says Wright. “And then sad.”
