50 Fun Facts About House of Cards

Who created the American version of House of Cards?

Beau Willimon knew the terrain: he had been a press aide on Howard Dean's 2004 presidential run, and he turned that campaign into his play Farragut North before adapting this series.

House of Cards is based on a 1989 novel by which British author?

Michael Dobbs began the novel beside a swimming pool after a furious row with Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister he had served as an aide.

How did Netflix release House of Cards' first season?

All at once: the 13 episodes arrived together in February 2013, so subscribers could watch the whole season in a weekend, bypassing the weekly schedule that networks had always kept to.

In the opening scene of House of Cards, Frank Underwood puts what out of its misery?

A neighbor's dog, hit by a car outside his house, is killed by Frank with his bare hands while he turns to the audience and explains his view of pain.

Which state does Frank Underwood represent in Congress?

South Carolina's real town of Gaffney is Frank's home, and its giant peach-shaped water tower lands him in trouble when a teenager crashes her car while texting about it.

Who plays Claire Underwood?

Robin Wright demanded the same pay as her co-star in 2016, telling producers she would go public, after seeing data that Claire had for a time been the more popular character.

Which cabinet post is Frank Underwood passed over for at the start of House of Cards?

Secretary of State goes instead to Senator Michael Kern, so Frank plants a story about an old college editorial that wrecks Kern's confirmation.

What position does Frank Underwood hold in Congress in season one of House of Cards?

House Majority Whip is the job Frank trades up from: he maneuvers the sitting vice president into quitting, and by the end of the season the president has offered him the post.

Who plays Frank Underwood's loyal chief of staff, Doug Stamper, in House of Cards?

Michael Kelly's Stamper dies in the show's final scene, stabbed by Claire in the Oval Office with the letter opener he had just turned on her.

Kate Mara plays which ambitious young reporter in House of Cards?

Zoe Barnes prints whatever Frank leaks to her until the season two premiere, when he ends the arrangement by pushing her in front of a Metro train.

In House of Cards, Kate Mara's reporter starts out at which newspaper?

The Washington Herald loses her after a clash with her editor, and she takes her scoops to the online startup Slugline.

Corey Stoll's Peter Russo is a congressman from which state in House of Cards?

Pennsylvania voters turn on Russo when Frank forces him to let a shipyard in his Philadelphia district close, putting 12,000 people out of work.

Who plays President Garrett Walker in House of Cards?

Michel Gill's President Walker resigns at the end of season two rather than face impeachment, which hands the Oval Office to Frank.

Gerald McRaney plays which billionaire with a wide network of influence in House of Cards?

Raymond Tusk ends season two under arrest for funneling campaign money through a casino, after telling investigators that the president knew about it.

Mahershala Ali plays which lobbyist-turned-chief of staff in House of Cards?

Remy Danton spent eight years as Frank's press secretary, then left for the money and lobbied against him for the gas company SanCorp before coming back.

What does Freddy Hayes serve at the Washington joint Frank Underwood frequents in House of Cards?

BBQ ribs bring Frank to Freddy's at all hours until season two, when a story exposing Freddy's criminal past costs him a franchise deal and he has to sell the place.

Claire Underwood runs which non-profit in season one of House of Cards?

The Clean Water Initiative loses half its staff in the first episodes, when a big donation falls through and Claire orders layoffs.

Which post does Claire Underwood take in season three of House of Cards?

UN Ambassador becomes her job only through the back door: the Senate votes her nomination down, so Frank installs her with a recess appointment.

Lars Mikkelsen plays which rival president in House of Cards?

Viktor Petrov is insulted to his face at a White House state dinner by members of the punk band Pussy Riot, who appear in the episode as themselves.

What is the name of President Frank Underwood's ambitious jobs program in House of Cards?

America Works is paid for by raiding FEMA's disaster relief fund, a gamble that turns on Frank when a hurricane heads for the East Coast.

Who does Frank Underwood appoint as his vice president after taking office in House of Cards?

Donald Blythe, the congressman whose education bill Frank leaked and took over in season one, ends up as acting president when Frank is shot.

Who shoots Frank Underwood at a campaign event in season four of House of Cards?

Lucas Goodwin, a journalist jailed in a cyber-terrorism sting after digging into Frank's crimes, is shot dead on the spot by bodyguard Edward Meechum, who dies too.

Which organ does Frank Underwood need transplanted to survive the shooting in House of Cards?

Liver failure puts Frank on the transplant list, and Doug Stamper bullies the health secretary into moving the president to the top of it.

Who challenges President Frank Underwood for the Democratic nomination in House of Cards?

Heather Dunbar is offered a seat on the Supreme Court by Frank, who hopes it will keep her out of the race, and announces her run for president anyway.

Joel Kinnaman's Will Conway is the Republican governor of which state in House of Cards?

New York's young governor mines voters' data through the search engine Pollyhop, and when he admits it in a live webcast his poll lead over Frank grows.

Neve Campbell plays which Texas-based political consultant in House of Cards?

LeAnn Harvey is hired by Claire to win her a seat in Congress behind Frank's back, and ends up running the Underwoods' 2016 presidential campaign.

Which terror group does President Underwood demand that Congress declare war on in House of Cards?

ICO, the Islamic Caliphate Organization, is the enemy Frank names when he takes over the House floor and refuses to yield it to the Speaker.

Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear play siblings running which conglomerate in season six of House of Cards?

Shepherd Unlimited's owners, modeled on the Koch brothers, spend the final season trying first to steer and then to destroy Claire's presidency.

Who becomes vice president under President Claire Underwood in House of Cards?

Mark Usher starts out running Will Conway's Republican campaign against the Underwoods, then crosses over to advise them and rises from there.

Which studio produced House of Cards for Netflix?

Media Rights Capital shopped the remake to cable networks including HBO and AMC, and Netflix outbid them all by committing to two full seasons up front.

Which film director was attached to produce House of Cards and shot its first two episodes?

David Fincher was finishing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button when an agent showed him the BBC original, and he asked to produce an American version.

Which actor starred in the original BBC House of Cards?

Ian Richardson's scheming Francis Urquhart gave British politics a catchphrase, "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment", which was soon being quoted in the House of Commons.

What was Netflix's winning House of Cards bid?

$100 million was the reported price of ordering 26 episodes without a pilot, the bid that beat cable networks including HBO and AMC.

Which Oscar-winning actress directed an episode of House of Cards in its second season?

Jodie Foster directed "Chapter 22", the episode in which Frank protects himself by cutting loose Freddy, one of his few real friends.

Which mobile puzzle game does President Underwood become hooked on in season three of House of Cards?

Monument Valley so impresses Frank that he hires the novelist who wrote a glowing review of it, Thomas Yates, to be his biographer.

Which Shakespeare role did Kevin Spacey play at the Old Vic shortly before filming House of Cards?

Richard III shares his plots with the audience in asides, the trick that the BBC's Urquhart and then Frank Underwood both play on the camera.

Frank Underwood's military college in House of Cards is modeled on which real school?

The Citadel's fictional twin, The Sentinel, puts Frank's name on a new library in season one, and the visit reunites him with a classmate implied to be his former lover.

Which city provided most of the exterior locations standing in for Washington in House of Cards?

Baltimore got the job with Maryland's help: the state paid the first season over $11 million in tax credits, and the producers later threatened to leave if the money stopped.

What is the profession of Adam Galloway, Claire Underwood's on-off lover in House of Cards?

Photographer Adam Galloway's intimate picture of Claire is leaked in season two, and the Underwoods pass it off as an anniversary gift they had commissioned.

Which country vetoed House of Cards filming in the UN Security Council chamber in 2014?

Russia objected half an hour before the deadline, saying the chamber had to stay free for unexpected emergencies, so the crew filmed elsewhere in the building.

House of Cards filmed part of season three in a town called Las Vegas outside Nevada, in which state?

New Mexico is where the season three finale sends Doug Stamper, on the trail of a witness who has been hiding from him there under a new name.

Doug Stamper grows obsessed with which young woman he is supposed to keep quiet in House of Cards?

Rachel Posner turns on her minder at the end of season two: she ambushes Stamper in the woods, beats him unconscious with a rock and leaves him for dead.

How is Frank Underwood written out of House of Cards?

Death comes off-screen between seasons, and the shortened eight-episode final season turns on who did it: his loyal right-hand man, Doug Stamper, finally confesses.

What did Kevin Spacey title the 2018 YouTube video he posted in character as Frank Underwood?

Let Me Be Frank went up on Christmas Eve 2018, the day it emerged that he would face a criminal charge in Massachusetts, and drew 4.5 million views in 24 hours.

How much was Kevin Spacey ordered to pay the producers of House of Cards after his firing?

$31 million was an arbitrator's award to the studio, which said that removing him cost it millions and cut the final season from 13 episodes to eight.

Who won House of Cards' only acting Emmy, as Freddy Hayes?

Reg E. Cathey won as a guest actor in 2015, while the show's two leads were nominated year after year and never took an Emmy home.

Which House of Cards episode won the first Primetime Emmys awarded to an online-only series?

Chapter 1 won for its directing and its cinematography in 2013, the year the show itself lost the best drama prize to Breaking Bad.

Who plays Claire Underwood's Texan mother, Elizabeth Hale, in season four of House of Cards?

Ellen Burstyn's Elizabeth Hale has kept her terminal cancer from her estranged daughter for years, and it is Frank who breaks the news to Claire.

Molly Parker's Jackie Sharp represents which state in House of Cards?

California's Jackie Sharp, a war veteran, is hand-picked by Frank to succeed him in the House leadership, yet she later quits her own presidential run to endorse his rival.

Doug Stamper is in long-term recovery from which addiction when House of Cards begins?

Alcohol catches up with Stamper in season three, when the pain of his injuries leads him to break years of sobriety with bourbon squirted from a syringe.