House of Cards Boss Beau Willimon Answers Vulture Readers’ Questions
Vulture interviews House of Cards creator Beau Willimon who discusses his inspiration behind the series’ military sexual assault storyline:
We weren’t really thinking about other shows when we came up with that backstory for Claire. What really inspired it was seeing an early screening of a documentary called The Invisible War. That’s a documentary that focuses on the problem of sexual assault in the military. I was really moved by that documentary. At the time, when I saw the screening, neither the show nor the issue was nearly as visible as it has become. But I was already thinking of the character of Jackie Sharp, a woman who has served in the military. I was thinking about sexual assault as the most brutal expression of power.
