‘The way Netflix’s House of Cards ended still hurts 6 years later’

Michael Kelly, best known for playing Doug Stamper in the Netflix series House of Cards has revealed that he still finds the way the series ended ‘heartbreaking’.

Netflix’s first original series in 2013 was the political drama House of Cards which ended abruptly with a cut-short final season in 2018 when the star Kevin Spacey was terminated by the streaming giant for sexual misconduct.

The Oscar-winning actor, 64, denied all charges and in 2023 was found not guilty of nine charges of sexual assault.

The final sixth season deviated from the standard 13-episode format with just eight episodes and saw Spacey’s lead character killed off-screen with the fellow cast and crew brought to the forefront to bring the series to a close.

For loyal fans, the final season and ending of the show were controversial with many left wondering what could have been.

Michael reflected on playing Doug Stamper in the Netflix series and admitted that he still has mixed feelings about the legacy the show has left behind.

‘On one hand, I can say that to my children, you know, like how they consume television now, we started that. We were the first original streaming show for Netflix, that legacy will never go away. You can’t get rid of that.’

‘But the way it ended, it’s heartbreaking to me,’ he said.

‘It’s unfortunate and it and it breaks my heart, because it could have, you know, who knows what it would have been, or how it would have finished, or any of that, you know.

‘It just, it hurts a little bit, yeah.’

Despite his mixed feelings about the show, he admitted that he’s still delighted to find that fans are still watching the series for the first time in 2024.

‘I had a young man come up to me a week or so ago in the airport, and he said he was like, “Oh my god, are you Doug Stamper, are you the guy that plays him?” I was like, “Yeah.” He said “I just started watching that, my dad and I just started the show. I’d never seen it before.” And it was, you know, a young college kid.

‘And that’s kind of cool that it has a continued life, you know, thanks to the way Netflix does things.

‘But forever we will be that first original, and it was only 12 years ago – and it’s the only way we consume content now!’

Michael is currently starring in Lioness, a spy thriller series that follows an all-women special operations team in the US.

The actor admitted that while he wouldn’t say he’s been typecast, he does find himself drawn to political roles.

‘I think post House of Cards. I’ve sort of been thrown into this world quite often. You know, they not, not typecast, but they tended to use me over and over for this kind of stuff.’

He revealed that he’s had the ‘real thrill’ of meeting the deputy director of the CIA between seasons of the Paramount show.

‘I’ve been on campus at Langley, at the CIA and met many of these men and women, and I’ve met the deputy director after season one, prior to season two, which is, which is a real thrill.

‘And I also haven’t studied political science in college. It’s something that I’m a bit of a junkie about, so I have a decent amount of knowledge.’

He also admitted: ‘I’m kind of a shameless political nerd. It’s so engaging to me. I just, I love the process. I love everything about it. I love reading about it. And I probably know more about politics than I do about directors or actors in my business!’

The series sees Michael playing across from Morgan Freeman and Nicole Kidman, actors who both decided to take on smaller roles in this series.

Michael explained that he still has a pinch-me feeling when he gets to work with such heavyweights.

‘I’m just like, “You’ve got to be kidding me”, every day that I go to work with those folks, I feel so blessed. I feel so fortunate to go in there and everyone comes so prepared that we’re actually doing like, this little one-act play every time we go in there, you know. And it’s so well rehearsed.

‘We all love it so much. And you can tell, you know Morgan, Morgan gets such a kick out of it.

‘I got to know Morgan a lot more in the second season and, just what a joy he is and how generous he is, sharing stories about his whole career, his whole life. He’s a fascinating man.

‘And the women that I work with, I’m just so grateful Nicole and Zoe, wow. You know these powerful, badass women who are at the top of their game? It’s just a treat, a real treat.’

He added that working with these women, who are the focus of the series, was what attracted him to the show to begin with.

‘I’ve seen these shows done quite often, and they’re almost always told from a male character point of view, right? Obviously, Taylor Sherman and the cast drew me to the project, but I found that to be one of the more intriguing and drawing characteristics of the show.

‘We’re telling this story from a woman’s perspective, and we’re going home with those women characters and seeing what their lives are like and how their lives are affected by what they do for a living. And I found it all to just be so fascinating and deep.’