In his annual Christmas video, he takes on the streaming platform as Frank Underwood.
Hollywood star Kevin Spacey remains true to his annual Christmas tradition: This year he published a video on YouTube in which he slips into his role Frank Underwood from “House of Cards”. But this year Spacey has a different twist up his sleeve: He’s targeting the streaming service Netflix and letting off steam in a fictional interview called “Being Frank with Tucker” with the controversial, right-wing US television host Tucker Carlson.
“Netflix only exists thanks to me”
The satirical video shows Spacey and Carlson in a Christmas setting: a decorated tree and a flickering fireplace can be seen in the background. The two stars, who were thrown out by their former employers, joke about this fact in the humorous exchange: “Do you still watch Netflix?” asks Carlson, to which Spacey, in his role as Frank Underwood, replies: “Probably about as often as you do still watch ‘Fox’.”
But the highlight of the satirical video is Spacey’s verbal reckoning with the streaming service: “Netflix only exists thanks to me. I made them big, and they tried to put me underground.” Here Spacey alludes to Netflix’s groundbreaking success in 2013 with its first in-house production, “House of Cards,” which persuaded many viewers to subscribe to complete. The video platform fired Kevin Spacey, who played US President and murderer Frank Underwood for five seasons, due to serious allegations of sexual abuse (including attempted sex with a minor). As a consequence, his character – Frank Underwood – dies in the series from a drug overdose and heart failure, without Spacey having to appear in front of the camera again.
Spacey appears to be taking a tongue-in-cheek approach to the matter, revealing how seriously he means the words uttered in the clip: “What is true and what is false? What is life and what is art? What is real and what is acting? I love it when these things intersect because that’s when things get really interesting.”
Carlson also addresses in the satirical video that the actor is “in some way” always there as soon as someone opens the Netflix app. He is referring to the provider’s intro sound, which originally comes from a scene in the “House of Cards” series in which Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood taps his fist twice on a table.