Time Light Network interviewed Michael Kelly, played by Doug Stapler, to talk about the surprising development of his character in the sixth season, the motivation behind it, the process of his discussion with the screenwriter about the development of the character, and his feelings during the filming process.
"House of Cards" ended on Netflix at the beginning of the season, and the first episode "gave death" to the former president of Shimogi played by Kevin Spacey, and laid the foreshadowing to suggest that the cause of death is not simple. In the new season, Doug Stapo, the chief chief of staff of President Shimogi, who runs through the entire American drama, is "promoted", and his importance is more prominent than in previous seasons. In the new season, Doug is not only the image of the poker face and cold-blooded seriousness in the past, but also a violent emotional ups and downs. Without his loyal boss, Doug lost himself to find his goal again, and returned to the political arena to play the "long talent" of political operations, but people can't figure out the motives behind it.
The final season Chinese officially announced
Produced by Netflix in 2013 and adapted from the BBC drama of the same name, "House of Cards", an exaggerated and vivid description of political operations and corruption, has attracted the attention of audiences around the world and won numerous awards. After Netflix announced the release of the sixth season in October 2017, it first went through the shooting on the set, entered the shooting schedule, and then encountered Spacey's sexual assault scandal.
Netflix quickly cut the mess and fired Spacey to get rid of the relationship, but the production of the sixth season was also suspended to reposition the general direction of the story. Finally, in early 2018, Netflix announced that the final season would continue filming, starring Robin Wright, who plays Claire, and reduced from the past 13 episodes to 8. The new season was released on Netflix in early November.
Recently, Time Network interviewed Michael Kelly, played by Doug Stapler, about the surprising development of his character in the sixth season. Kelly also explained the truest motives behind Ge's blind loyalty, recalling the process of creating the character with the screenwriter, and comparing the dramatic degree of the American drama that is popular with international audiences and the state of American realpolitik.
(Spoiler alert!) ）
Halfway through the sixth season, it was decided who the killer was
Season 6 poster
"House of Cards" has a huge viewing group in China that cannot be ignored. Kelly said he really didn't know, "Until I met fans walking around downtown New York or at the airport, and when they asked for a photo, they told me that 'House of Cards' was very popular. But China doesn't have Netflix yet! Kelly laughed and said, "But isn't it! I don't think Netflix cares too much about that, they'd rather have more viewers watching it. ”
In the sixth season, Doug becomes the main character who confronts the female president Claire. But the impression of Doug in previous seasons is that he was a powerful helper for President Shimogi and his wife to promote political ideas.
Kelly said the writers never let him down, and he's grateful for that. Over the past few years, Kelly has worked with the writers to create the character of Doug: "There are often unexpected developments that surprise me and challenge my acting skills, like Doug's rehabilitation after a brain injury in the third season." But I find this season's challenges to be more difficult. ”
When Kelly learned that Doug's story in season six would change like this, he remembered being surprised but also thinking that this development was reasonable: "[The new season] completely changed my existing perception of the character." For the first time we saw this man completely disoriented himself. He knows all about the world, including his job, his boss, his survival goals, etc., so at the beginning of season six we see Doug very confused. ”
The screenwriter used his usual skills to come up with reasonable goals and motivations for Doug: "And this season, Doug's goal is how to maintain the achievements left by President Shimogi after his death." And for this, Doug can do whatever he can. ”
The psychological factor behind this motivation is Doug's blind loyalty that is difficult to fully understand throughout the six seasons: "[Doug] is the most loyal character I've ever seen in any TV series. Therefore, to some extent, the supremacy of loyalty is set as Doug's "last wish", and his actions and decisions are based on this. “
Stills from the sixth season of House of Cards. Michael Kelly plays Doug
But even in the sixth season, people from all walks of life are uncertain where this loyalty comes from. Kelly described Doug as a work-oriented workaholic, which was his most fundamental motivation: "People often say that [Doug] is loyal to Frank. But I think that Doug's loyalty to Frank came in large part from his dedication to his work, and Frank happened to be a very fortunate beneficiary of Doug, who bowed down to his job. ”
Kelly further explained: "Although Frank did save Doug's life, perhaps more than once, Doug was very grateful to Frank. But I think when Doug decided to take the blame for Killing Zoe for Frank, the emotional debt of Life-Saving Grace was tied. Doug's dedication to his work was the driving force behind his continued loyalty to franks. ”
"Ge's dedication to his work was the driving force behind his continued loyalty to the Franks."
As a result, in the sixth season, Doug killed Frank, and finally died for defending Frank's achievements. Kelly recalls learning of this important plot twist: "My first reaction was, 'Wow. I was shocked, but after further discussions with the writers, I thought it made perfect sense. He had no way of allowing Frank to act according to his original plan, so the most reasonable way to do so was to kill Frank. “
However, in the actual shooting, Kelly revealed that this plot twist was not a clear decision immediately after the production and shooting of the sixth season: "We have been halfway through the filming before deciding who is the real murderer of Frank. We know Frank won't be in season six, and we plan how he died, but we also let the truth slowly be discovered, and the process and details will not be decided until later. ”
Kelly also explained that Doug also had a psychological transformation process: "[In season five] he realized that his relationship with Frank and Frank and Claire was not going to get better, it was only getting worse. So the chances of a Frankish amnesty are increasingly slim. (Season 6) Becomes a discussion of what Frank would have left without his achievements? "The final scene of the sixth season is rich in meaning and extremely difficult to perform
At the beginning of the sixth season, Claire ascended to the presidency, and the biggest resistance was from a group of middle-aged white men who wanted to manipulate her. But they seem to think that Claire is just a woman, and that she can be easily brought down without having to think too hard and use feminine features as a point of attack. Only Doug regarded Claire as an equal opponent.
Stills from the sixth season of House of Cards. Robin Wright plays Claire
"It's because he knows Claire's abilities," Kelly explains, "and while they never had the same ideas and philosophies, Doug saw Claire as a straight-up and respectable opponent, because only Claire had the ability to make her decisions and actions in the film, and gender and ability had nothing to do with it." ”
Kelly laughs and says, "The story ends up telling the story. ”
He mentions the final scene of the sixth season. The episode was directed by Robin Wright himself and was the final scene. In the film, Doug carries a copy of Claire's "list of killers" in exchange for Claire, allowing him to announce amnesty for Frank.
The scene, which lasted less than 10 minutes, was so tense that people sat like needles. Kelly said: "For an actor, trying to capture this current emotion, it is very challenging. Because although this scene is only a few pages of script, it is overflowing with plot details and emotions. I had to follow the current emotional development and start to capture the essence after a few times. ”
Doug and Claire
The mystery of who killed Frank was not revealed until the final scene, and Doug's emotional collapse was also very rare: "That was the first time he said that he killed Frank, perhaps the first time he really felt emotions in his heart." 」 Frank is dead, and he is behind it. Although the moment seems to be a logical and reasonable decision, Doug does not really absorb and realize the consequences of this decision until the final scene. His love and respect for the Franks (non-lustful) is the meaning of his life. ”
Kelly continued: "As the story progresses, Doug discovers that he has no chance of getting what he wants, so desperately asks Claire to admit that without Frank there would be no her today. Kelly says it reflects Doug's desperate desire to transfer guilt to Claire.
But Claire's response was cold, shrugging lightly and saying, "Well, not necessarily. This made Doug furious and even wanted to kill the killer, but the next look came frank's child. Doug's heart softened, and the half-second hesitation became Claire's chance to root out dissidents.
"By the time I got to this point, I think Doug had realized he had lost the game, but what was left of him? We know that he didn't have a strong family connection, no job, no Frank, and that dying in the end was a relief. ”
Why did Kelly sleep with a competitor in season five?
Although Doug is a cold and serious character who is good at calculation and manipulation, his personality is clearly targeted, and he is therefore one of the characters that many viewers pay attention to.
Kelly looks back on the first season with when Ball Willimon created the character, and Willymon gave him only two brief instructions: "I want the audience's reaction to Doug after this season is over: 'What's wrong with this guy?'" '”
Kelly says he'll always remember the words: "It helped me play the role, except to figure out his voice, his walking and his movements." ”
But Doug's appeal lies in a depressive tangle within him. Kelly said that he didn't just want to build a killing machine that made the audience hate it, but still retained the inner entanglement of humanity: "He committed many shocking and cold bloody cases, but at the same time corroded his heart, precisely because he still has a conscience." 」
After a few seasons of tv series, the actors will know more about their roles than the writers, so the dialogue will change from the screenwriter giving orders to interactive exchanges to discuss character development.
In the fifth season, Doug has a relationship with Claire's chief of staff, LeAnn Harvey
Kelly recalls several of his conversations with screenwriters that influenced Doug's fortunes. For example, in the fifth season, Doug sleeps with Claire's chief of staff, LeAnn Harvey (Neve Campbell), who is rivals. Kelly remembers having dinner with screenwriters Frank Pugliese, Melissa James Gibson, and Campbell one day, and the writer asked the two actors, "I know your characters hate and respect each other, and there's a strange chemistry in between, and we want to develop unexpected intimate scenes, what do you think?" ”
Kelly said: "Campbell and I joked and said, 'Okay, no problem.' Seriously, I said it was reasonable for the two of them to go to bed, but it would never happen again this time. This part is also incorporated into the plot development. ”
Trump's madness raised audience evaluations of House of Cards
Some netizens commented that "House of Cards" is the American "Biography of Zhen Huan"
"House of Cards", a film set in American politics, is so wonderful that even international organizations that are not necessarily familiar with the US government and the current state of politics can pay attention to and love. Kelly said: "The core theme of 'House of Cards' is still the power struggle, and I think this is a theme that many people can resonate with, so it has created cross-border popularity." Regardless of the country or political party, the theme is the struggle for rights and the process. ”
Kelly said that "House of Cards" was initially positioned as a political TV series with a crazy narrative, playing with unprecedented political manipulation methods and not reflecting real life, but today's American politics has become more and more similar to "House of Cards". "I'm definitely not saying that the current government and senior officials are really killing people, but the current situation is almost as crazy as 'House of Cards', or even more exaggerated." 」
This phenomenon also greatly changed the audience's evaluation and perception of "House of Cards", and Kelly also felt it personally: "I discussed the results with the crew and the relatives and friends around me, and everyone thought: 'Wow, we are no longer crazy political dramas.'" ’”
Kelly, who has never shyed away from criticizing President Trump on social networking sites, also bitterly expressed concern that the crazy level of the current situation may catch up with house of cards one day: "I have been blunt many times on social media, saying that Trump is becoming more and more like a dictator. I think that's unacceptable in [the United States]. In the play, many of the behaviors of Frank and other people are above the law, and in real life we have a president who does not follow the rules, some people like it, some people don't like it. And I'm the latter. ”