“House of Cards” creator and executive producer Beau Willimon is unapologetic about making the villains in his new hit show Democrats, though he explains that Southern Democrats, such as his main character, are “more moderate.”
“You gotta pick a party,” he told Red Alert Politics Wednesday night after finishing a panel hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington D.C. “You gotta belong somewhere.”
To say the main character in the new Netflix original series is a corrupt politician is putting it mildly. Played by Kevin Spacey, House Majority Whip Francis Underwood is cruel and unforgiving and his master plan to take him to the top— while thrilling to watch — is both vile and vicious.
While Francis’ character in the original BBC miniseries is the Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, Willimon chose to turn him into a Democratic congressman from South Carolina’s fifth district.
“I was interested in the idea of a Southern Democrat,” Willimon said. “Southern Democrats are often times different than what people stereotypically think of as Democrats.”
“They tend to fall more moderate,” he explained. “They come from a tradition as opposed to an ideological position.” Willimon said that while South Carolina is considered a red state, Underwood’s district in the show is traditionally a Democratic district, although in real life, Republican Rep. Mick Mulvaney currently holds the seat. In fact, the real-life House Majority Whip is also a Republican, California Congressman Kevin McCarthy.
Earlier in the night during the panel discussion of “The Intersection Between Hollywood & Washington,” Willimon actually applauded McCarthy for helping Spacey with his character development as the House Majority Whip.”We’ve had a lot of cooperation with the GOP,” he said. “McCarthy sat down with Kevin [Spacey] and invited him to a deputy whip caucus.”
After Willimon noted that McCarthy was “a big fan of the show,” one audience member added, *spoiler alert* “even though he’s not a murderer.”
