There is a special place in hell reserved for Francis Underwood. It’s called Washington, DC.
The diabolical politician of Netflix’s “House of Cards” is surely one of the most evil characters ever seen on the small screen (and that means your computer or iPad, too), the descendant of Shakespeare’s Richard III and Livia of “I, Claudius.” You should hate him, but Underwood is played with such malicious glee by Kevin Spacey that you end up glued to your screen as he plays both sides against the middle, manipulating and wheedling and literally getting away with murder — so far — in the corridors of power in Washington, DC.
Adapted by playwright and screenwriter Beau Willimon (“Farragut North”; “The Ides of March”) from a popular 1990s British miniseries that delineated corruption in the Houses of Parliament, the series tells the story of Underwood, a South Carolina congressman and House Majority Whip who exacts a vicious revenge for not being named Secretary of State. He finagles his way to the Vice Presidency, killing one unsuspecting and drug-addled Pennsylvania congressman (Corey Stoll) along the way.
After taking the oath of office, Underwood says, in one of his characteristic asides to the camera, “One heartbeat away from the presidency and not a single vote cast in my name. Democracy is so overrated.”
Willimon is quick to defend the monster he created: “Francis doesn’t see himself as evil. He is unapologetically self-interested,” he says. “He sees morality as cowardice because it prevents you from making bold choices. To Francis, the things that he does are necessary.”
He works closely with Spacey, who has been running London’s Old Vic in recent years, on Underwood’s development. “We have long conversations about each script. We play with changing things around,” he says. “He’s an incredibly intelligent dramaturge as well so it would be madness not to take advantage of that.”
Willimon tells The Post that in Season 1, the ill-fated Peter Russo was never intended to run for governor of Pennsylvania. “Corey [Stoll] was doing such an amazing job, I saw the potential to shift that story line into Kevin’s arc. It greatly deepened the journey. In the midst of production, we made that shift. When a better idea comes along you have to be willing to seize it.”
Sakina Jaffrey, who plays White House Chief of Staff Linda Vasquez, says intense preparation is necessary when delivering the show’s intricate political content. “You can’t show up not understanding this stuff. You have to fully know it,” she says. When matters, such as the education bill discussed in Season 1, seem too complicated, Jaffrey turns to her husband, journalist Francis Wilkinson, for a tutorial. “I needed him to explain it to me so I could do my scene with Kevin.”
The first season of “House of Cards” put Netflix on the map with breathtaking urgency. It was revolutionary, breaking television’s basic rule — that you could only watch a series on a weekly basis. With “House of Cards,” viewers could stream the entire series — some 13 episodes — at once. It was custom-made television; premium and basic cable suddenly looked quaint. Network TV looked positively Jurassic.
Actress Molly Parker, who joins the show in Season 2, says she watched Season 1 in three gulps. She plays Jackie Sharp, the new House Majority Whip, a third-term Congresswoman from California.
“Francis Underwood describes her as a ruthless pragmatist, which he values. Clearly, because he championed her, there is an idea that she would be faithful to him, but that gets called to into question,” Parker says. “She’s incredibly ambitious, but quite principled. She is a veteran of the Iraq War and believes deeply in the values that she learned being in service. I think she’s down with Francis unless those values are challenged. She’s not afraid of him.”
Parker first caught Willimon’s eye when she played Alma Garret on HBO’s “Deadwood,” one of his favorite shows. “Her work is heartbreaking and brutally honest. Like Robin Wright, she has the ability to tap into so many layers simultaneously,” he says.
Speaking of Wright, the recent Golden Globe winner plays Claire Underwood, Francis’ quietly sinister wife. If Spacey’s playing a small-screen Richard III, the coolly blond Wright is Lady Macbeth. Willimon says of all the creepy characters on his show, this couple haunts him the most.
“That marriage is an enigma. Two people willing to go to great extremes for their mutual advantage,” he says.
Wright tried her hand at directing an episode this season, Willimon says. “She’s a natural. She’s fantastic.”
The success of “House of Cards” has made Netflix — and Willimon — wary of discussing upcoming plot points — except that the show has a 26-episode order — but the Season 2 trailer reveals that Underwood’s crime is an important narrative arc, as his ex-mistress, political journalist Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara), begins to connect the dots and Underwood pressures her to destroy the phone record of their relationship. There is a funeral and a knock on the door from the FBI for another reporter who may have knowledge of Underwood’s chicanery.
Will Francis Underwood literally get away with murder? Willimon says it’s not his job to decide who is good and who is evil but to make his Beltway backstabbers worth watching. “What matters to me is: Do you find yourself needing to know what they do next. Richard III is a cold-blooded murderer but you find yourself rooting for him at times.”