GOP Leader: Kevin Spacey Stole My Line For ‘House Of Cards’

Incoming House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif. speaks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority event in Washington, Friday, June 20, 2014. Organizers said more than 1,000 evangelical leaders we... Incoming House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif. speaks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority event in Washington, Friday, June 20, 2014. Organizers said more than 1,000 evangelical leaders were attending the conference, designed to mobilize religious conservative voters ahead of the upcoming midterm elections and the 2016 presidential contest. While polls suggest that social conservatives are losing their fight against gay marriage, Republican officials across the political spectrum concede that evangelical Christian voters continue to play a critical role in Republican politics. (AP Photo/Molly Riley) MORE LESS

New House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told People magazine in an interview published Thursday that “House of Cards” star Kevin Spacey stole one of his lines.

As Spacey prepared to take on the callous role of Frank Underwood for the Netflix series, he shadowed McCarthy on Capitol Hill to learn the ropes of being the majority whip, according to People. McCarthy was the real-life majority whip at the time.

Spacey, according to McCarthy, asked at one point: “How much do you twist arms?”

“I told him to say to members, ‘You vote your district, you vote your conscience, you just don’t surprise me.’ And he stole that line for the show,” McCarthy told People.

Although Spacey may have drawn some inspiration from McCarthy, the real-life politician said he hadn’t learned anything from the fictional series other than “things not to do.”

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  1. Avatar for pine pine says:

    And ?

  2. In other words, McCarthy wants to claim he was an inspiration for one of the most evil characters on television. Got it.

  3. So…McCarthy’s post-retirement career will be that of screenwriter?

  4. Avatar for jw1 jw1 says:

    Boy howdy that’s rich!
    A ® whining about somebody ‘stealing’ intellectual property.

    How many ® conventions and campaigns have used music without permission or paying royalties over the past 10 years?

    jw1

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