On Nov. 17, OSU had the great pleasure of “Bringing Down the House” with House of Cards star Robin Wright, or as she likes to call it, House of Schnards. The moderated event, hosted by the Ohio Union Activities Board, gave students some insight into some of her most iconic roles, including Buttercup from the cult-classic Princess Bride and Jenny from the award-winning film Forrest Gump (and about that one time Tom Hanks made her pee her pants). It also gave a behind-the-scenes look at her role as the formidable Claire Underwood in the hit Netflix series.
The event kicked off with Wright coming completely prepared to offer what many members of audience were looking forward to: details and secrets behind her most well-known roles, and she did not disappoint. She brought with her two movie clips, the first being a scene from Princess Bride when Buttercup realizes that the Dread Pirate Roberts who kidnapped her is in fact her true love Wesley. According to Wright, she was the 500th girl to audition for the role as Buttercup, which she claims is the reason for her being cast (find this hard to believe) and revealed that she perfected her accent for the film thanks to her British stepfather.
The next clip Wright showed from Forrest Gump was the goodbye scene between Jenny and Forrest before he leaves for the Vietnam War. When asked why she chose this scene for the evening, she said it was her favorite and most memorable scene because while filming it, Hanks had made her laugh so hard that she peed her pants, and there wasn’t a replacement outfit. Hey, as Forrest would say, sh*t happens.
“You guys aren’t studying very much,” Wright jokingly pointed out during the roar of cheers after House of Cards was brought up around this time. When asked what made her want to play to role of Claire, she said that she admired that Claire is defined by her character, not by her actions and that Claire is the “best of both sexes.” To prepare for her role, Wright said that she read Sun Tzu’s The Art of War because “the Underwood’s are an army.” Wright also prepared for the role by practicing being still, as one aspect of Claire that is unfamiliar to her is that Claire is very still and stoic, whereas Wright is the opposite. Wright also discussed how playing the role of Claire has given her some perspective on the male-dominated field of politics, pointing out that only one in five members of the senate are women. When asked how she felt about playing a “strong-female” character, she admirable pointed out that no male actor is asked about playing a “strong-male” character, and that she thinks of her role as playing an empowered person.
Other highlights from the event included the best advice she had for the audience, which was from a quote she recently saw on a T-shirt in NYC that said, “Don’t look back, you’re not going that way.” When asked whom she would pick to star in a movie about her life, she chose Urban Meyer (she knew her audience well) and also revealed that she couldn’t tell any funny Kevin Spacey stories because they were “too dirty to tell” (oh, Francis).
Wright concluded the event by making sure the audience was aware of the amazing campaign she is a part of with Pour Les Femmes to help women in the Congo and the launch of their new hashtag, so make sure you check out #DreamBigger and their website http://www.plfdreams.com.
Photo Source: http://ouab.osu.edu/events.aspx/2014/11/17/39574?d=11&p=3