'House of Cards' Season 3 News: Petrov Is 'More Suave,' His English Is Better Than Putin [VIDEO]
In a recent interview, actor Lars Mikkelsen, who portrays Petrov in season 3 of House of Cards spoke about how he was not exactly trying to channel Putin.
Mikkelsen was pretty dismissive of the Russian Premier while speaking to The Independent about the comparison between his character and Putin on the show. Mikkelsen did admit to the role being inspired by him though.
"No, not really; of course it is inspired by him, but it's not him," Mikkelsen said. "Petrov's much more suave, his English is much better... Putin's English is horrible. Of course I looked at Putin - that callous, KGB type - but I didn't really spend energy on trying to do him. I'm six-foot-three, he's short - I'd never be able to imitate him and anyway it's not really interesting imitating him."
Showrunner Responds To Criticism Of Rachel's Murder
Previously in an interview with Vulture, Mikkelsen revealed that his relationship with Claire (Robin Wright) was primarily motivated by his intention to get Frank's goat. When asked if he was "genuinely attracted" to Claire and the flirtation was one of sincerity or simply to get under Frank's skin, the actor cleared up the confusion.
"I think, who wouldn't be attracted to Claire?" he said. "But apart from that, he's using her to play Frank. So he's just as ruthless as Frank is, in that sense. I think that he uses any woman for his purpose. So I don't think it's genuine in that way."
While Mikkelsen obviously shares some pretty intense scenes with Wright, he is essentially playing a tough match for Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey). The actor spoke about his experience working with Spacey for the show.
"He's just so good. You just follow his lead," Mikkelsen said. "He's one of the top actors in the world, I'd say. I haven't experienced anything like that before. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were also really good to work with [on Sherlock]. So these last few years, I've been blessed with working with some real talent."
The third season of the show premiered on Netflix on February 28.
Watch the trailer for season 3 below.
