House of Cards is an American political drama web television series created by Beau Willimon for Netflix. It is an adaptation of the BBC's miniseries of the same name and is based on the 1989 novel by Michael Dobbs. Below is a list consisting of the many characters who have appeared throughout the series' seasons. The only two actors to have main appearances in all six seasons of House of Cards are Robin Wright and Michael Kelly.
Main cast overview Character Portrayed by Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 Francis "Frank" J. Underwood Kevin Spacey colspan=5 Claire Hale Underwood Robin Wright colspan=6 Zoe Barnes Kate Mara Peter Russo Corey Stoll colspan=2 colspan=2 Doug Stamper Michael Kelly colspan=6 Christina Gallagher Kristen Connolly colspan=4 Linda Vasquez Sakina Jaffrey colspan=2 colspan=3 Gillian Cole Sandrine Holt colspan=4 Janine Skorsky Constance Zimmer Garrett Walker Michel Gill colspan=2 colspan="2" Lucas Goodwin Sebastian Arcelus colspan=2 Remy Danton Mahershala Ali colspan=4 Tom Hammerschmidt Boris McGiver colspan=3 Edward Meechum Nathan Darrow colspan=3 colspan=2 Rachel Posner Rachel Brosnahan colspan=2 Raymond Tusk Gerald McRaney Cathy Durant Jayne Atkinson colspan=4 Jackie Sharp Molly Parker colspan=3 Gavin Orsay Jimmi Simpson colspan=2 colspan=3 Ayla Sayyad Mozhan Marnò colspan=3 Seth Grayson Derek Cecil colspan=4 Heather Dunbar Elizabeth Marvel colspan=2 colspan=2 Thomas Yates Paul Sparks colspan=2 colspan=3 Viktor Petrov Lars Mikkelsen colspan=2 colspan=2 Kate Baldwin Kim Dickens colspan=2 colspan=2 LeAnn Harvey Neve Campbell colspan=3 colspan=2 Will Conway Joel Kinnaman colspan=3 colspan=2 Mark Usher Campbell Scott colspan=4 colspan=2 Jane Davis Patricia Clarkson colspan=4 colspan=2 Hannah Conway Dominique McElligott colspan=3 Aidan Macallan Damian Young colspan=3 Annette Shepherd Diane Lane colspan=5 Bill Shepherd Greg Kinnear colspan=5 Duncan Shepherd Cody Fern colspan=5
Main characters
Francis J. Underwood (Kevin Spacey) is a Democrat from South Carolina's 5th Congressional District that is House Majority Whip in season one, Vice President of the United States in season two, and the 46th President of the United States in seasons three and four. An utterly ruthless and conniving politician, he pursues only his own political agenda and manipulates everyone around him to grab influence and prestige, at the potential cost of destroying everyone else to push himself forward. His name is derived from Francis Urquhart, the protagonist of the BBC version and the novel version of House of Cards, and Oscar Underwood, the first Democratic House whip. Just as Urquhart does in the BBC version, Underwood often breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the viewer.
Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) is Francis's wife who administrates the non-governmental organization Clean Water Initiative in season one before giving it up to become Second Lady of the United States. She often abets Frank's political scheming, and proves to be just as cold, manipulative, and power-hungry as her husband. In season three, she becomes First Lady of the United States and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. In season five, she becomes the 47th President of the United States. Her equivalent character from the original series is Elizabeth Urquhart. Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) was a reporter for the fictitious The Washington Herald who forms a correspondence with Underwood. She was extremely ambitious and after an encounter with Frank Underwood she approached him at his home with a proposal. The two formed an arrangement to use each other to advance their respective careers: Underwood uses her to leak stories when he wants that will damage his opponents, while Barnes uses him to get bigger and better stories. She formed a personal relationship with him that became sexual, often complicated by their mutual struggle for power and services from each other. Barnes later moved to the more web-based Slugline. Later, she became increasingly suspicious of Underwood's involvement with Peter Russo. Working with her past Herald coworkers Janine Skorsky and Lucas Goodwin (with whom she begins a relationship), she investigated what she soon suspected to be murder. During the season two premiere, her investigation led to her death, with Underwood pushing her in front of a Washington Metro train to protect his own secrets. In season 4, Zoe, along with Peter Russo, appear in a dream Frank has after an assassination attempt on his life. Her equivalent from the original series is Mattie Storin. Peter Russo (Corey Stoll) was a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania's 1st Congressional District. Divorced with two children, he was in an intimate relationship with Christina Gallagher, a member of his staff. Russo was blackmailed into serving Underwood after Underwood "fixed" his arrest for DUI with a prostitute (Rachel Posner) in his car and then holds it over Russo's head. With Underwood's help, he got sober and ran for Governor of Pennsylvania. However, Underwood eventually contrived to have him relapse in his alcoholism right before an important interview, ruin his career, and then get him to withdraw gracefully as a way of manipulating Vice President Jim Matthews into running for Governor and securing the vice presidency for Frank. However, when Frank saw that Peter was becoming a liability, he killed him and made his death look like a suicide. In season 4, Peter, along with Zoe Barnes, appear in a dream Frank has after a failed assassination attempt on his life. Whereas most characters who were adapted from the UK version of House of Cards were based primarily on a single character, Russo's storyline takes reference from two characters: Mr. Stoat, an MP whose career Francis Urquhart saves after he is caught with a prostitute, and Roger O'Neill, the Conservative Party's cocaine-addicted press secretary, whom Urquhart murders by putting rat poison in his cocaine. Douglas "Doug" Stamper (Michael Kelly) is Underwood's unwaveringly loyal chief of staff and confidant. He is instrumental in strategizing and carrying out many of Frank's plans. A recovering alcoholic, Stamper prizes discipline and self-control above all else, but loses his poise when he comes into contact with Rachel Posner, whom he helps Underwood use as part of his plot to bring down Peter Russo. He relocates her in order to keep her involvement in Russo's death hidden. He is one of the few who knows the truth about Frank's involvement in Russo's death. In Season 2 he feels threatened by the influence of Seth Grayson, The Underwoods' new Press Secretary. He begins to control Rachel's life and becomes increasingly infatuated with her. The end of the second season finds Stamper presumably dead in the woods, Rachel having bashed him repeatedly in the head with a brick. It can be assumed that Stamper was planning to murder Rachel, concerned that she would speak up about her role in Underwood's murder of Peter Russo. At the start of the third season, it is revealed that Stamper survived the attack. He undergoes physical therapy to regain his ability to walk, and becomes obsessed with tracking down Rachel, who has gone into hiding, and works with Gavin Orsay to do so. Devastated when Underwood insists that he take time to recover rather than continuing his work, Stamper relapses in his alcoholism after fifteen years of sobriety. After tracking down and killing Rachel, he returns to his chief of staff position. Doug continues to serve Frank as his chief of staff. Season 4 saw Doug struggling to keep things in control during both Frank and Claire's separation and finding out of Seth's betrayal that nearly results in Doug killing Seth. When Frank is shot, Doug offers his liver to the President but cannot donate due to his alcoholic history. After forcing a dying patient to die in order for a wounded Frank to be bumped in the donation list to get the liver, he begins to have spells of guilt. His guilt leads him to donate a large sum of money to his family and he begins seeing the deceased man's wife. Doug continues as Frank's Chief of Staff, as a part of Frank's plan that leads to his resignation from the presidency. Doug is a mole that releases classified information to the Washington Herald, posing as Catherine Durant. Later, Doug takes a fall for Frank and takes the blame for the murder of Zoe Barnes. After having a conflict with Claire Underwood, he officially handed in his resignation to Frank before he resigned the presidency. With Frank Underwood dead and Claire Underwood serving as president, Doug recants his admission of guilt in Zoe Barnes' murder. Lacking evidence to use against him, the DOJ allows for his release from a psychiatric facility. The deal was struck when he threatened to use testimony from him and Catherine Durant to derail Claire's presidency. Doug gets a new job as political operative for a young congressman from Illinois who hopes to become Speaker of the House. But his real goal is to secure Frank's legacy from Claire, who is determined to erase it. During a tense confrontation in the Oval Office, Doug confesses to Claire that he was Frank's murderer. Doug murdered him when Frank went to the White House to kill Claire, who had refused to pardon him. Knowing that this would forever tarnish Frank's legacy, which took years of careful planning and strategy, Doug sabotaged his liver medication to induce an overdose. Doug then angrily pleads for Claire to admit that her success is because of Frank. Claire refuses, and Doug threatens her with the letter opener that Frank let him take from the Oval prior to his resignation. Once free of his grip, Claire takes the letter opener and stabs Doug in the torso. She then comforts him as he slowly bleeds to death on the Oval Office floor. His counterpart from the original series is Tim Stamper. Christina Gallagher (Kristen Connolly) is the former chief of staff to Representative Peter Russo and deputy chief of staff to President Garrett Walker, as well as Russo's former love interest. Linda Vasquez (Sakina Jaffrey) is the former Chief of Staff to President Walker. While she got her position in the White House with Underwood's help and works with Frank as much as she can, she also sees into his duplicity more than others. After Frank helps get her son into college she pays him back by helping him become Vice President. In season 2, she and Frank become more adversarial, fighting over who will be the most influential voice in President Walker's ear. After realizing Frank has won, she hands her formal resignation to President Walker. After her surrender, Frank notes that he has an extremely high level of respect for Vasquez. Gillian Cole (Sandrine Holt) is the leader of a grass-roots organization called World Well that provides clean water to developing countries. Through the Clean Water Initiative, she grapples with Frank and Claire's interests. Claire eventually gave up on Clear Water and gave the company to Gillian so she could administrate. Janine Skorsky (Constance Zimmer) is a former journalist, and was the former White House Correspondent for The Washington Herald before her position was offered to Zoe Barnes. Her former colleague Lucas Goodwin asked for her help to expose Underwood for murdering Zoe and Peter Russo, but denied for the sake of her life. In the final season, Janine is still working for a small weekly paper in Ithaca, New York. She and Doug collaborate on a series of exclusives involving Frank’s “audio diary” (all those breaking-the-fourth-wall talks Frank used to have with the audience) that threatens to expose the real Claire to the world.