According to Matt Lauer, the murderous fictional president portrayed by Kevin Spacey on the Netflix series House of Cards is “tame” in comparison to Donald Trump’s presidency. Interviewing the actor on Wednesday’s NBC Today, Lauer wondered: “...did you ever imagine that there would come a time in real-life politics that would make the plot lines of your show seem tame?”
Spacey responded by claiming that his character, President Frank Underwood, who commits multiple murders throughout the political thriller, was actually a more realistic figure in the midst of the Trump administration: “Actually, no, I don’t think they seem tame....there might have been some things that we did where people thought, ‘Well, that’s just crazy. That couldn’t possibly happen’....And now 18 months later, I think people are feeling like, ‘Wow, it is possible.’”
Lauer followed up by asking: “Has what’s happened in Washington forced you to change course at all on the show?” Spacey replied: “No, we’ve always felt like as long as we’re true to our story....and don’t feel the need to compete with the real world, we’re going to be fine.” He also quipped that “we are an alternative reality, as opposed to reality television.”
Here is a transcript of the May 24 exchange:
8:42 AM ET
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MATT LAUER: Before we get to the season, did you ever imagine that there would come a time in real-life politics that would make the plot lines of your show seem tame?
KEVIN SPACEY: Actually, no, I don't think they seem tame. I actually think that maybe a couple of seasons ago, even at the end of the last season, there might have been some things that we did where people thought, “Well, that’s just crazy. That couldn’t possibly happen.”
LAUER: And now?
SPACEY: And now 18 months later, I think people are feeling like, “Wow, it is possible.”
LAUER: Has what’s happened in Washington forced you to change course at all on the show?
SPACEY: No, we’ve always felt like as long as we’re true to our story, as long as we follow the runway we want to be on – and you know, we are an alternative reality, as opposed to reality television. And I think that as long as we do that and don’t feel the need to compete with the real world, we’re going to be fine.
(...)
