Building up House Of Cards with new people

Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear will play new characters in the sixth and final season of the show

Greg Kinnear and Diane Lane will play siblings in the new season of House Of Cards.
Greg Kinnear and Diane Lane will play siblings in the new season of House Of Cards. PHOTOS: REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Greg Kinnear and Diane Lane will play siblings in the new season of House Of Cards.
Greg Kinnear and Diane Lane will play siblings in the new season of House Of Cards. PHOTOS: REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

NEW YORK • Kevin Spacey is out. Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear are in.

The sixth and final season of House Of Cards will introduce new characters as it tries to move past a sexual misconduct scandal that put the Netflix series in peril and forced out its biggest star.

Spacey, who played the central character, Frank Underwood, a ruthless politician who becomes president, was shown the door amid allegations of sexual misconduct last year.

Production for the new season, after a three-month hiatus, resumed on Tuesday.

Netflix did not disclose what roles Kinnear or Lane will play other than that they will be brother and sister. Lane, 53, and Kinnear, 54, are both Oscar nominees. She was nominated for Unfaithful (2002) and he for As Good As It Gets (1997).

As previously announced, the final season of House Of Cards will turn its focus from Spacey's fictional President Underwood to his equally Machiavellian wife, Claire, portrayed by Robin Wright.

The return to production ends an odyssey that began shortly after The New York Times published an investigation detailing sexual harassment and assault allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and a national reckoning on sexual harassment began in earnest.

In October, after actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of inappro-priate sexual behaviour, Netflix announced that the next season of House Of Cards would be its last and suspended production not long after.

Spacey apologised to Rapp, but numerous other allegations against him emerged.

Though House Of Cards is past its peak in terms of cultural relevance, it is a landmark for the streaming service. It gave Netflix a bold entry into the television landscape when it debuted in 2013 and in the five years since, the tech giant has upended the TV industry. Netflix said it would spend up to US$8 billion (S$10.5 billion) on content this year, dwarfing all rivals.

Other tech companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google are now springing into gear and investing hundreds of millions of dollars to create their own original programming.

Netflix has paid a price for sexual misconduct scandals. The streaming service last month said it took a US$39 million write down for unreleased programming that its chief financial officer David Wells said was related to the "societal reset around sexual harassment".

Netflix had been planning a movie starring Spacey as writer Gore Vidal and a stand-up special with Louis C.K., the comedian who was also accused of sexual misconduct. Both have been tossed away.

The final season of House Of Cards is expected to be eight episodes long, down from the usual 13, and could be released later this year.

NYTIMES, WASHINGTON POST

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 02, 2018, with the headline Building up House Of Cards with new people . Subscribe