Netflix released season two on Valentine’s Day 2014, which is either a joke or a threat, depending on how you feel about the Underwoods.
What happens in House of Cards S2E1
In “Chapter 14,” the season opener, Zoe finishes sex with Lucas Goodwin (Sebastian Arcelus) and walks to the shower, with the camera following her the whole way.
Here’s the thing you came for, and the thing you should know. Every nude frame here belongs to a body double; none of it is Kate Mara’s. aznude tags both clips “Body Double,” and Mr. Skin, not famous for restraint, concedes that “her body double shows off ‘her’ nude caboose,” scare quotes theirs. So what you’re watching is her character, played by her, walking in somebody else’s skin. The performance is hers. The rest is somebody else’s job.
I find something oddly admirable in that. An actress decides where her line is, a production respects it, and a professional steps in so the story gets its shot. That isn’t a cheat. That’s a contract working the way contracts are supposed to, which in this industry deserves a small parade.
It’s also, in a way, a goodbye. Season two was Zoe Barnes’s last full run; Mara came back only for a cameo in 2016. She was 29 or 30 when this was made, and by September 2016 she’d be shooting love scenes with nobody standing in for her at all.
It’s fifth on our Kate Mara guide. For season one’s stand-in moment, when Zoe let Frank take pictures, see the House of Cards S1E5 photo scene.
Series: House of Cards (Netflix original) · season 2 released February 14, 2014 · episode “Chapter 14” · Kate Mara as Zoe Barnes; scene partner Lucas Goodwin, played by Sebastian Arcelus
All Kate Mara scenes
1Love Scenes My Days of Mercy- 2Bedroom Scene House of Cards S1E7
- 3Photo Scene (body double) House of Cards S1E5
- 4Against the Wall House of Cards S1E9
- 5Now watchingShower Walk (body double) House of Cards S2E1
Back to the hub: Kate Mara nude: every scene, ranked.