Robin Wright Saved ‘House of Cards’ After Kevin Spacey Was Fired, Patricia Clarkson Says

We’ve known for some time now that “House of Cards” will continue without Kevin Spacey, who was fired from the Netflix drama following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. Robin Wright will step into the lead, and co-star Patricia Clarkson says that we have the fictional First Lady to thank for the show continuing at all.

“Robin led all of this charge so that people would save their livelihoods, because when the show goes away, some people don’t get paid,” Clarkson said during an appearance on The Talk this week, according to Vulture. “I think it’s going to be a stunning, stunning new season and I’m thankful for it.” Wright, whose Claire Underwood will now be POTUS rather than FLOTUS, has co-starred in the political drama since it began in 2013.

We have beautiful showrunners, Frank [Pugliese] and Melissa [Gibson], and they killed themselves to rethink the whole show,” Clarkson added. As teased in a 4th of July message shared on the series’ Twitter account, “House of Cards” will return for a shortened eight-episode season later this year.