TV

Robin Wright is the most elegant woman on TV

When we first meet Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) in the pilot of the Netflix series “House of Cards,” she could be confused for a nervous housewife, waiting impatiently when her husband returns home from work late.

“You didn’t call me, Francis,” she says as she sits in the dark living room, her arms and legs crossed tightly.

But when Francis (Kevin Spacey) confesses he was passed over for the secretary of state job he was vying for, she doesn’t jump up to comfort him.

“This affects me too, Francis. And it’s not the money I’m upset about. It’s that we do things together,” she says, barely moving a muscle, looking like a marble statue. “When you don’t involve me, we’re in freefall.”

The exchange is our first glimpse into the Underwoods’ unique partnership — an open marriage of two powerful, shrewd, ambitious people. And it’s our first hint that Claire is an entirely different type of leading lady.

Wright is up for the Emmy tonight for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of the complex role. (“House of Cards” snagged nine nominations total.)

Although she’s married to one of the most influential men in Washington, Claire is a powerhouse in her own right. She runs a nonprofit organization with an iron fist — barely batting an eyelash when she has to lay off half of the

rganization to cut costs. And, unlike her husband, she doesn’t get her way by flattery, wheeling or dealing: Claire is controlled and stern, and she manages to balance elegance with ferociousness.

“There have been a couple of times when I was directing when the scene was over but I was so into it watching it that I didn’t realize I didn’t say ‘Cut.’ I stood there frozen waiting for someone to say, ‘Cut,’ ” says “House of Cards” director James Foley of Wright’s stoic yet seductive portrayal of Claire. “I don’t think I’m the stupidest guy in the room, but if I met Claire Underwood, I think she could convince me of anything.”

Early in the series, we learn about another layer of the Underwoods’ relationship. Claire knows her husband is sleeping with young reporter Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) — and she’s fine with it. The Underwoods discuss the affair during their nightly shared cigarette, a surprisingly intimate ritual. They also talk about Claire’s own dalliance.

When Wright signed up for the critically acclaimed streaming TV series, she looked to both real-life and fictional women for inspiration.

“[Director] David Fincher and [writer] Beau Willimon had said to me: Think Hillary and Bill Clinton if you want a couple in politics who are both strong and have deep-seated drive,” Wright said in an interview earlier this year. In other sit-downs, Wright has compared Claire to Lady Macbeth, the Shakespearean character who convinces her husband to murder so they can both gain power.

Foley isn’t so quick to compare the unique character to anyone else.

“Claire couldn’t have existed before the 21st century,” he says. “She’s unapologetic and treated in an unapologetic way. She is what she is. And I think male characters have been treated that way for a longer time than females. Females seem to have this imposed sense of morality they have to follow.”

Moral or not, many New Yorkers are smitten with Claire and will be rooting for Wright tonight.

“I think it’s really important to see a woman who can run her own nonprofit organization the way that she does,” says Sarah Todd, co-founder of Girls Like Giants, a feminist media and pop culture blog. “I also think in some ways her relationship is an unusual take on marriage that would be good for women to look at. It’s one where they’re very much equals and when she is most angry with him is when he fails to treat her as such.”

“You have your Don Drapers and your Walter Whites and the male anti-heroes who everyone roots for, and people don’t call them names,” says Gerold Schroeder, an executive assistant at an advertising firm, of reviews calling Claire an “ice queen.”

“She’s a female antihero,” adds the 30-year-old fan. “She’s not all good, she’s not all bad. The bad things she does, you could almost see yourself doing. Shes more real, and I like characters like that more.”

And good news for Claire fans.

Filming for the second season of “House of Cards” is just wrapping up, and Foley promises we’ll learn more about the mysterious character when the show returns in early 2014.

“We get to learn about her past and her life before Francis Underwood, and it’s an incredibly complicated life that promises to be more relatable, emotionally,” he says. “There is a depth that goes beyond a single-minded, ironclad ambition.

“It only gets better and more complicated.”