House of Cards Robin Wright says series was almost cancelled

House of Cards star Robin Wright reveals that the series was “very, very close” to being canceled after Kevin Spacey sexual misconduct allegations.

We know now that House of Cards can not only survive without former star Kevin Spacey but indeed thrive with Robin Wright in the lead. However, Wright reveals that producers were not so optimistic in the wake of Spacey’s dismissal from the series and that House of Cards was nearly canceled right out. “People were [saying], ‘We have to shut everything down or otherwise it will look like we are glorifying and honoring this thing that’s dirty,” explained Wright. “Our show’s not dirty. I believed we should finish. I believed we should honor our commitment. To the people that loved the show, also. Why quit?”

Spacey was fired from the show after several allegations were made against him for sexual misconduct. As producers considered shutting down the series

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all together, Wright spearheaded the campaign to keep the show running – not just for herself, but for the hundreds of people who relied on the series to make their living.

While according to executives only about 600 people would have lost their jobs if production had shut down, Wright counts it closer to 2,500 when you include everyone involved shooting on location in Baltimore. “And that’s not fair – to take that security away from those people… They didn’t do anything.”

Wright makes a fair point. While it is commendable that those in power are trying to do the right and sensitive thing when it comes to responding to sexual misconduct, there’s no reason to punish innocent workers and professionals for the actions of one man. And now that victims of sexual misconduct in Hollywood have a voice and with executives and producers stepping up to hold the perpetrators accountable, there still seems to be a disconnect as to the reasonable steps to take and whom to take action against. They don’t really seem to understand the problem, but they know they’re meant to take action against victimizers, so they overcompensate with a disproportionate response.

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While the potential cancellation of House of Cards was surely more of a viability issue than a proportionate response issue, this kind of panicked reaction can be seen in cases like Disney’s firing of director James Gunn for some tasteless jokes he made on twitter years ago.

While the jokes were horrifying, one needs to take into account the context and the purpose of those jokes, and the pattern of conduct of the person in the present. After all, people do grow and they do change. Robin Wright believes that, even in the case of someone like Kevin Spacey. “I believe every human being has the ability to reform,” said Wright. “In that sense, second chances, or whatever you are going to call it – absolutely, I believe in that. It’s called growth.”

Source: Deadline

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