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Francis J. "Frank" Underwood is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American version of ''House of Cards''. He is portrayed by Kevin Spacey. He is a variation of Francis Urquhart, the protagonist of the British novel and television series ''House of Cards'', from which the American Netflix series is adapted. He is married to Claire Underwood (Robin Wright), but also had a sexual relationship with Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) in season 1. He made his first appearance in the series' pilot episode, "Chapter 1". Frank is from Gaffney, South Carolina. He graduated from The Sentinel, a fictionalized version of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and Harvard Law School. Some of Underwood's dialogue throughout the series is presented in a direct address to the audience, a narrative technique that breaks the fourth wall. The character speaks in a Southern dialect. During season 1, he is the Democratic Majority Whip in the United States House of Representatives. In season 2, he is the newly appointed Vice President of the United States, before becoming President of the United States in the season finale. Frank is described as manipulative, conniving, Machiavellian, and even evil and homicidal, while receiving significant critical praise as one of 21st-century television's antiheroes. Spacey shared the distinction of being among the first three leading web-television roles to be nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards when the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards were announced on July 18, 2013. Spacey's portrayal of Underwood is the only one of those three to earn a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series nomination. Spacey has also been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, winning one, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, including one cast nomination and including one win, for his performance. ==Background and description== Francis J. Underwood was born around 1959 to Calvin and Catherine Underwood in Gaffney, South Carolina.〔 He graduated from The Sentinel, The Military College of South Carolina—and Harvard Law School. He speaks with a Southern dialect, however, this dialect noticeably begins to disappear as the show progresses.〔〔 Underwood's great-great-great grandfather was Corporal Augustus Elijah Underwood, who died at the age of 24 serving the 12th Regiment of McGowan's Brigade at the Bloody Angle engagement in the American Civil War. Underwood's great-great grandfather was 2 when his father was killed. Publicly, Underwood speaks fondly of his father, who died at age 43 of a heart attack, as a political ploy; in reality, he hardly knew his father, and did not think much of him. Nonetheless, he was influenced by his father. In Season 2's finale, he says in a letter to Walker that at the age of 13, he walked in on his father putting a shotgun in his mouth, and that his father asked him to pull the trigger. Frank says that his biggest regret is that he did not do it, as his father's alcoholism and abuse caused the family several more years of misery. Much of Frank's dialogue throughout the series is presented in a direct address to the audience, a narrative technique known as breaking the fourth wall. Immediately prior to starring in ''House of Cards'', Spacey had starred in a production of William Shakespeare's ''Richard III'' as Richard III of England,〔〔 a character that serves as a partial basis for both Urquhart and Underwood.〔 His last name is derived from Oscar Underwood, who served as the first Democratic House Minority Whip from about 1900 to 1901. Among his few vices are smoking cigarettes. He has a hobby of playing video games; when the Secret Service cuts off his online gaming service after he becomes Vice President, he takes up creating model figurines. Spacey viewed portraying Underwood for a second season as a continuing learning process. "There is so much I don’t know about Francis, so much that I'm learning... I've always thought that the profession closest to that of an actor is being a detective... We are given clues by writers... Then you lay them all out and try to make them come alive as a character who’s complex and surprising, maybe even to yourself." Underwood's sexuality is ambiguous throughout much of the first two seasons; he has sexual liaisons with both men and women, but he is never explicitly identified by any sexual label. Before Season 2, various sources speculated about his homosexuality. It is revealed in "Chapter 8" he had an experience with homosexuality in college. Frank and Claire are never depicted having sex in season 1.〔 ''Slate'' journalist Hanna Rosin noted: if Frank and Claire Underwood were a real-life Washington couple and they were found each to be having an affair, Frank would be accused of being "secretly gay, turned on by women only when he can use them for a pure power play". Other sources make no definite stance on Underwood's sexuality, but hypothesize that he is not sexually attracted to Claire. In season 2, Frank is involved in a threesome with his wife and male Secret Service agent Edward Meechum (Nathan Darrow), while in season 3, there is a moment of sexual tension between Frank and his biographer, Tom Yates (Paul Sparks). According to ''Time'' television critic James Poniewozik, by the end of the first episode, it becomes clear that Frank both literally and figuratively uses meat as his metaphor of choice. He may begin a day with a celebratory rack of ribs, because "I'm feelin' hungry today!", and he depicts his life with meat metaphors. For example, he describes the White House Chief of Staff with grudging admiration: "She’s as tough as a two-dollar steak" and plans to destroy an enemy the way "you devour a whale. One bite at a time". He also endures a tedious weekly meeting with House leaders, as he tells the audience, by "() their lightly salted faces frying in a skillet." Tim Goodman of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' notes that, in Season 2, with Frank's new position as Vice President, "He's got more power now and that means he instills more fear in his enemies".〔 At one point during the season, he states "The road to power is paved with hypocrisy and casualties. I need to prove what the vice president is capable of." Frank and Claire "continue their ruthless rise to power as threats mount on all fronts." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Frank Underwood (House of Cards)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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