‘House of Cards’ interest spurs rise of Spacey in China

American actor Kevin Spacey recently recounted his visit to Macau in 2014, describing how the overwhelming response in China to the political drama “House of Cards” has turned the actor into an instantly recognizable personality in Macau.
“I went to Macau and walked on stage and it was like some rock star had walked on stage,” Spacey told Abu Dhabi’s English-­language publication, The National. “About 300 Chinese rushed the stage and spent the whole concert taking selfies with me in the background. I got back to my hotel and asked my friends, ‘What has happened?’ They said, ‘House of Cards. It’s huge in China’.”
Spacey was in Macau in 2014 to support the local chapter of Best Buddies International, a charity dedicated to helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The charity held a gala event in the Venetian Macao’s ballroom.
His rise in popularity was all the more surprising to Spacey, the American actor recalls, as he was relatively unknown in Mainland China only a few years earlier.
“I did a film in China a few years ago and I could walk down the street with its star, Daniel Wu. He’s a huge star over there – it’s like walking down the street with Tom Cruise. Next to him everyone just thought I was his bodyguard or something,” he told The National.
The Chinese interest in an American TV drama that exposes the scandalous and ruthless rise of political figures may be unexpected in a country that strictly monitors its citizens’ access to information and prohibits criticism of the ruling elites. Indeed, the show remains unavailable on Netflix, where “House of Cards” premiered, within Mainland China.
“I have heard, and understand totally, that many members of the Chinese government are fans,” Spacey explained. “But my friends told me that for the common man in China, Francis [the character portrayed by Spacey] is perceived as someone fighting corruption.”
“That took a while to get my head around,” he added. DB