The third season of the American

television drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular su ...

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...

'' was commissioned on February 4, 2014.

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

released the season in its entirety on February 27, 2015. The season was filmed from approximately June 12 through December 20, 2014. The season was recognized with numerous award nominations.

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...

won the

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest acting achievements in dramatic television. Dennis Franz holds the record for most nomin ...

at the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards for his portrayal of Frank Underwood and Reg E. Cathey won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a guest st ...

at the

67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The 67th Annual Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 12, 2015, at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. The event was broadcast in the U.S. by FXX on September 19, 2015. The ceremony was in conjunction w ...

for his portrayal of Freddy Hayes.

Production

On February 4, 2014, Netflix announced it had renewed ''House of Cards'' for a third season of undisclosed length. On December 1, 2014, Netflix announced that the third season would be available on February 27, 2015. On February 11, 2015, 10 episodes from the third season became accidentally available on Netflix for approximately 25 minutes due to "a bug in the system"; however, they were quickly removed.

Filming

In February 2014,

stated that the show would again film in the

Baltimore metropolitan area The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It is part of the larger ...

. On July 3, the show was denied filming access to the Security Council chamber at the

Headquarters of the United Nations , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004 (cropped).jpg , image_size = 275px , caption = View of the complex from Long Island City in 2021; from left to right: the Secretariat, Conference, and General Assembly buil ...

by Russia through its representative Mikael Agasandyan despite encouragement from

Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

. Russia questioned the propriety of filming in the chambers and felt that the room should be kept available for normal uses. For a third consecutive season, the show filmed episodes at the offices of ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'', which in prior seasons served as the setting for the fictional ''Washington Herald''. Among the municipalities filmed in for the season were

Havre de Grace, Maryland Havre de Grace (), abbreviated HdG, is a city in Harford County, Maryland, Harford County, Maryland, United States. It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre ...

, and

Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimo ...

. On August 9, filming of a fictional

motorcade A motorcade, or autocade, is a procession of motor vehicles. Uses can include ceremonial processions for funerals or demonstrations, but can also be used to provide security while transporting a very important person. The American presidenti ...

at the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...

caused road closures on

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C. that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown. Traveling through So ...

Constitution Avenue Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the Northwest, Washington, D.C., northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and ...

and Independence Avenue. On October 6, filming occurred at

DAR Constitution Hall DAR Constitution Hall is a List of concert halls, concert hall located at 1776 D Street NW, near the White House in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1929 by the Daughters of the American Revolution to house its annual convention when membership ...

in Washington, D.C. Other D.C. filming occurred at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. The season finale was planned to be filmed in

Northern New Mexico Northern New Mexico in cultural terms usually refers to the area of heavy-Spanish settlement in the north-central part of New Mexico. However, New Mexico state government also uses the term to mean the northwest and north central, but to exclude ...

areas in and around Santa Fe and

Las Vegas, New Mexico Las Vegas, often known simply as Vegas, is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities (one a city and the other a town), both were named Las Vegas: West Las Vegas ("Old Town" ...

in December 2014. On December 20, 2014, creator

Beau Willimon Pack Beauregard Willimon (born October 26, 1977) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He developed the American version of the series '' House of Cards'', serving as showrunner for the first four seasons. In 2018, Willimon created the dram ...

tweeted that principal photography for the season had completed that day.

Tax incentives

Netflix had received $26 million in tax benefits for the first two seasons, but was only offered a $4-million incentive for season three by Maryland Governor

Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American politician who served as the 17th commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2023 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was th ...

, which resulted in its delaying and threatening to move production. By March 2014, it was clear that the requested state

tax incentive A tax incentive is an aspect of a government's taxation policy designed to incentive, incentivize or encourage a particular economic activity by reducing tax payments. Tax incentives can have both positive and negative impacts on an economy. Amo ...

s would not be approved by the Maryland Legislature. In response to Netflix's threat to move production if "sufficient tax incentives" were not provided, the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly, legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House ...

threatened to use

eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

power to purchase, condemn, or seize the production assets, equipment, and other property that remained in the state because the production had already been the beneficiary of tens of millions of dollars in tax benefits. By April 6, 2014, the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives, and the lower ...

considered various methods to avail the tax incentives. However, the April 7 state budget only included a total of $15 million in tax incentives for filming, leaving a $3.5-million shortfall for ''House of Cards'', which production company Media Rights Capital said might force them to move production. ''

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publish ...

'' longtime television critic David Zurawik felt that the $3.5 million would not keep ''House of Cards'' from returning to resume production. As of April 11, some predicted that no matter what happened the season three release date would be delayed. On April 25, a deal was reached to leave the 2015 fiscal year budget with the $3.5-million shortfall, but to allow the producers to collect the $11.5-million unallocated filming credit that remained in the previous year's budget.

Casting

On May 19, 2014, a May 19–21 casting call was posted in the ''Baltimore Sun'' for an

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

Director as well as senators, reporters, military colonels, emergency room doctors and a few other roles with projected shooting availability: June 12 – July 15, 2014. On June 3, 2014, an announcement for a June 7 casting call for extras and day players was made. In August 2014,

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Nadezhda Andreyevna "Nadya" Tolokonnikova ( rus, Надежда Андреевна "Надя" Толоконникова, p=nɐˈdʲeʐdə ɐnˈdrʲejɪvnə ˈnadʲə təlɐˈkonʲːɪkəvə; born November 7, 1989) is a Russian musician, concep ...

and

Maria Alyokhina Maria "Masha" Vladimirovna Alyokhina (; born 6 June 1988) is a Russian political activist. She is a member of the Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, anti-Putinist punk rock group Pussy Riot. Early life and education Maria Vladimirovna Al ...

of the punk band

Pussy Riot Pussy Riot is a Feminism in Russia, Russian feminist protest and performance art group based in Moscow that became popular for its provocative punk rock music which later turned into a more accessible style. Founded in the fall of 2011 by the th ...

were confirmed to be in the cast for season 3. In October 2014, two recurring roles were cast;

Kim Dickens Kim Dickens is an American actress. She is known for starring as Madison Clark in the AMC (TV channel), AMC horror drama series ''Fear the Walking Dead'' (2015–2018; 2022–2023), Joanie Stubbs in HBO's ''Deadwood (TV series), Deadwood'' (2004 ...

in an unspecified role, and Jenna Stern as an ambassador at the United Nations. Elizabeth Norment, who played Frank's secretary Nancy Kaufberger, died on October 13.

Cast

as Francis J. Underwood, the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Robin Wright Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress, producer and director. She has received accolades including a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for eight Primetime Emmy Awards. Wright first gained attention for her role ...

Claire Underwood Claire Underwood (née Hale) is a fictional character in '' House of Cards'', played by Robin Wright. She is the wife of the show's protagonist Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and the main protagonist in the final season. She is a lobbyist and ...

, the

United States Ambassador to the United Nations The United States ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the United States Mission to the United Nations, U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is formally known as the Permanent representative to the U ...

and

First Lady of the United States First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...

* Michael Kelly as Douglas "Doug" Stamper, Frank Underwood's

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Elizabeth Marvel Elizabeth Marvel (born November 27, 1969) is an American actress. Her more prominent roles include Det. Nancy Parras on '' The District'', Solicitor General Heather Dunbar on '' House of Cards'', and President Elizabeth Keane on '' Homeland''. ...

as Heather Dunbar, the

United States Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States (USSG or SG), is the fourth-highest-ranking official within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and represents the federal government in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. ...

who announces her candidacy for

. *

Mahershala Ali Mahershala Ali ( ; born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore on February 16, 1974) is an American actor. He has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Fi ...

as Remy Danton, the

White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...

Derek Cecil Derek Cecil (born January 5, 1973) is an American actor. He played the role of Seth Grayson on the Netflix series '' House of Cards'', starred in the short-lived series '' Push, Nevada'' and '' The Beat'', and made several appearances in the seri ...

as Seth Grayson, the

White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...

White House Communications Director The White House communications director or White House director of communications, also known officially as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the president of the United States. The officeholder is resp ...

* Nathan Darrow as Edward Meechum, a

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security tasked with conducting criminal investigations and providing protection to American political leaders, thei ...

agent *

Molly Parker Molly Parker (born June 30, 1972) is a Canadian actress, writer, and director. She garnered critical attention for her portrayal of a necrophiliac medical student in the controversial drama '' Kissed'' (1996). She subsequently starred in the tel ...

as Jacqueline "Jackie" Sharp, the House Deputy Minority Whip and a Democratic

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from California * Jimmi Simpson as Gavin Orsay, a computer hacker and

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

informant *

Paul Sparks Paul Sparks (born October 16, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as gangster Mickey Doyle in the HBO period drama series ''Boardwalk Empire'', writer Thomas Yates in the Netflix political drama series ''House of Cards'', mal ...

as Thomas Yates, an author hired by Underwood to write a biography on him *

as Kate Baldwin, a journalist and

White House Correspondent The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor ...

for the ''Wall Street Telegraph'' * Alexander Sokovikov as Alexi Moryakov, the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations *

Jayne Atkinson Jayne Atkinson (born 18 February 1959) is a British-American actress. She is best known for the role of Karen Hayes on '' 24'', as well as her Tony Award–nominated roles in '' The Rainmaker'' and '' Enchanted April''. She has also appeared in ...

as Catherine Durant, the

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

Lars Mikkelsen Lars Dittmann Mikkelsen (; born 6 May 1964) is a Danish actor. He is known for his roles as Copenhagen mayoral election candidate Troels Hartmann in the Danish police procedural '' The Killing'', the character Charles Augustus Magnussen in the t ...

as Viktor Petrov, the

President of the Russian Federation The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Kelly AuCoin Kelly AuCoin (born February 14, 1967) is an American actor who has appeared in film, television, and theater. He is best known as "Dollar" Bill Stern on '' Billions'' ( Showtime) and Pastor Tim on ''The Americans'' ( FX). He has had recurring rol ...

as Gary Stamper, Doug Stamper's brother * Benito Martinez as Hector Mendoza, the

Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the ...

and a Republican

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from Arizona *

Larry Pine Larry Pine (born March 3, 1945) is an American actor. A veteran of the Broadway stage, he began his career playing the role of Fop in the 1968 production of ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. He has since starred in film and television, with recurring role ...

as Bob Birch, the

House Minority Leader Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

and a Democratic

from Michigan * Reed Birney as Donald Blythe, the

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

* Jenna Stern as Eliana Caspi, the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations * Christina Bennett Lind as Sharon, Doug Stamper's physical therapist * Rachel Brosnahan as Rachel Posner / Cassie Lockhart * Reg E. Cathey as Frederick 'Freddy' Hayes *

Mozhan Marnò Mozhan Navabi (born May 3, 1980) is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles in ''The Blacklist'' and ''House of Cards'' and played Soraya Manutchehri in '' The Stoning of Soraya M.''. She was previously known as Mozha ...

as Ayla Sayyad, a journalist for the ''Wall Street Telegraph'' *

Kate Lyn Sheil Kate Lyn Sheil (born June 13, 1985) is an American actress. She has had roles in independent films like ''You're Next'', '' V/H/S'', '' The Color Wheel'', '' The Sacrament'', and ''House of Cards''. Early life Sheil was born and raised in Jers ...

as Lisa Williams * Eisa Davis as Cynthia Driscoll, Heather Dunbar's campaign manager *

Curtiss Cook Curtiss Cook (born October 2, 1968) is an American character actor known for his roles in ''House of Cards'', ''Manifest'', ''Mayans M.C.'', ''Luke Cage'', '' Narcos'', and others. Early life and education Cook was born in Dayton, Ohio on Octob ...

as Terry Womack, the

House Minority Whip Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

Christian Camargo Christian Camargo (né Minnick; born July 7, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for playing army officer John Cambridge in Academy Award-winning film ''The Hurt Locker'', Brian Moser in the Showtime drama ''Dexter'', Michael Corrigan ...

as Michael Corrigan, an

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

activist * John Doman as Bishop Charles Eddis * Shawn Doyle as Alan Cooke, a cardiovascular surgeon and Jackie's boyfriend (and later, husband) * Frank L. Ridley as Harlan Traub

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

The third season has received positive reviews from critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the season has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the season has a rating of 73%, based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's consensus reads, "Season three introduces intriguing new political and personal elements to Frank Underwood's character, even if it feels like more of the same for some."

Accolades

For the

67th Primetime Emmy Awards The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in US prime time television programming from June 1, 2014, until May 31, 2015, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 20, 2015, at the Mi ...

, the series received nominations for Outstanding Drama Series,

for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series,

for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and Michael Kelly for Outstanding Supporting in a Drama Series. For the

, Reg E. Cathey won for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, Rachel Brosnahan was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, and

Jeff Beal Jeff Beal (born June 20, 1963) is an American composer of music for film, television, recordings, and the concert hall. Highly regarded as a jazz instrumentalist and versatile composer, Beal creates music that often incorporates a synthesis of impr ...

won for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. For the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards, the cast was nominated for Best Drama Ensemble, Kevin Spacey won for Best Drama Actor, and Robin Wright was nominated for Best Drama Actress. For the

73rd Golden Globe Awards The 73rd Golden Globe Awards honored the best in 2015 in film, film and 2015 in American television, American television of 2015. It was broadcast live on January 10, 2016, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California beginning at 5:00&n ...

, Robin Wright was nominated for Best Drama Actress.

Home media

The third season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

1 on July 7, 2015, and in region 2 on June 29, 2015.

References

External links

* * {{House of Cards House of Cards (American TV series) seasons 2015 American television seasons