Who doesn’t love Jenny from Forest Gump and Buttercup from the classic comedy the Princess Bride. We’ve all got an actress we relate to, look up to, connect with. Robin Wright is blonde and stylish, tall and willowy and I can see myself in her, not that we look alike, I just like her work and her style.
Both these shows star Robin Wright, and I recommend both as binge watch worthy not because I have a girl crush on Robin, which I don’t, well maybe a little.
In house of cards co stars include Kevin Spacey as the US president and his chief of staff Michael Kelly, who plays my absolute favourite character in the series Doug Stamper.
In the girlfriend Robin Wright plays mother, Laura Sanderson with Olivia Cooke as her son’s Girlfirend Cherry Laine, Karen Henthorn (who plays Julie in Eastenders) as Tracey Laine, Cherry’s Mum (a butcher which is integral to the story) and Laurie Davidson as Daniel Sanderson, Laura’s son.
Fancy a binge watch, these are both gripping thrillers from prime and Netflix respectively to get your teeth into. I love Robin Wright, she was also absolutely knockout in the Netflix 6 seasons of House of Cards, a political thriller, where she plays the US president’s wife opposite the brilliant Kevin Spacey, much longer than the Girlfriend by equally meaty and gripping.
Side Note:
Whilst I appreciate many may not wish to support the work of Kevin Spacey by watching House of Cards, for me he does remain a great Hollywood talent, LA Confidential, The Usual Suspects, Glen Garry Glenross, Swimming with Sharks, the Magnificent American Beauty, (in my top 20 movies ever made) in spite of accusations against him and the way he has conducted his personal life, behaviour which has not yet been proved I don’t condone.
Spacey has denied all accusations and was found not liable in a 2022 lawsuit in New York. In a separate case in London, where he was charged with 4 counts of sexual assault against 3 complainants he was acquitted by a jury of the charges in 2023. Spacey is set to face civil claims of sexual assault from three men at the High Court in London in October, 2026.
Whatever the outcome he has lost a great deal financially and his professional standing and career as an actor already simply by being accused. I also appreciate it takes great courage from victims of sexual assault to bring cases against prominent and well loved celebrities and getting convictions is not always straightforward. It’s a fact juries rarely convict people held in high public esteem, not that this means in this case Kevin Spacey is guilty.
Kevin Spacey aside, House of Cards is brilliant although he does not appear in the 6th season as the filming coincided with his legal issues and House of Cards producers (Media Rights Capital or MRC) were initially awarded roughly $31 million (specifically around $29.5 million in damages and $1.5 million in costs) in arbitration in 2021. This sum was meant to cover losses associated with rewriting the show's final season following the sexual misconduct allegations against Kevin Spacey and resulted in bankrupting him. I have to say I thought the 6th season would flop without Spacey but after the rewrite Robin Wright carried the conclusion to it’s edge of your seat totally unexpected end.
It a dramatic back story to the production which Robin Wright beautifully stars as the First Lady with a devious twist.
The common denominator of both series, The Girlfriend and House of Cards is you never really know who the baddies are until the last few frames. Robin Wright plays the perfect wife and wife and mother in both series except she’s got a chilly side to her character which keeps us all guessing until the very end.
The characters around her are in the most part bad, except her son in The Girlfriend trapped between an overly protective mother who will stop at nothing for her son and an overly ambitious girlfriend who equally is hell bent on over riding her fellas Mum and destroying their relationship at every opportunity.
I think the reason The Girlfriend is such a powerful drama is because it tackles a relationship potential daughter in law and mother (mother in law) that is historically fractious and tenuous. We can all relate, men and women to some degree although the lengths this pair of individuals go to stretch the boundaries so far from reasonable to questionable to yep completely insane and psychotic you won’t be able to stop watching.
The cast of characters are rich, well dressed, enjoying luxury lifestyles but the barriers between them are as real as the aspiration that drives the plot.
Well written, extremely well acted, gorgeous central london film locations you’ll recognise if you live in London or know the city well which made watching all the more interesting for me, spotting neighbourhoods I know in and around north london, mainly Saint Johns Wood and Charing Cross.
You need a Prime membership to watch all six episodes which costs £8.99 per month.
To watch House of Cards, I bought the DVD’s secondhand but a Netflix membership (which I don’t have) costs £12.99 per month. You can get Netflix with ads for £5.99 but House of Cards may not be included.