Michael Kelly took a break from filming Season 4 of “House of Cards” to talk with TheWrap about his Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the show’s third season.
Kelly plays the ultimate righthand man, Doug Stamper, on the Netflix series that follows Southern politician Frank Underwood (fellow nominee Kevin Spacey), who will stop at nothing to rise to power.
Kelly could not be more different than the character he plays, however, and laughed while describing his lack of fear regarding his acting career. “I was always so naive to think, ‘Oh, I got my degree. Now I’m going to go be an actor,’” he said.
Read on for TheWrap’s full conversation with Kelly:
Who is the stiffest competition in your category?
Everybody [laughs]. I watched everyone’s submission episodes, because with two little kids I didn’t have a chance to watch all the shows. I was just blown away. I was honestly so privileged to be a part of that group. They’re all so damn good.
Who do you think got snubbed, either on your show or in general?
Everyone’s always like “Such and such got snubbed this year;” it’s all so subjective. To say that someone was snubbed means that someone [else] wasn’t worthy, so I just don’t feel like it’s fair. I wish sometimes the categories were longer. Jon Voight is an amazing actor. I would have loved to have seen him in there too. The real thing right now is we have so much great television and it’s impossible to get everyone that’s worthy in six slots.
Did you have any naysayers when you were first coming up as an actor?
No, I guess I was pretty blessed. I was always so naive to think, “Oh, I got my degree. Now I’m going to go be an actor.” And I had such an incredibly strong support team in my family. They were always so positive and I had a couple of high school and college friends who moved to New York with me and they were so positive, that I never didn’t think it would happen. I did have a casting director tell my agent once, “I love Michael Kelly. Just don’t send him in for comedies anymore.”
What has your strategy been for campaigning?
We’re in the middle of season four right now and we shoot in Baltimore, which isn’t a big publicity town. So I’ve been able to do some phoners and stuff, and they’re giving me off to do some press next week for the Emmy stuff. If you were to ask my publicist they would definitely say there’s a strategy. I just don’t know. I just do what they tell me to do [laughs].
If you win, what would your victory song be when you’re walking up to the stage?
I’m from the ATL, so I’m a big fan of Outkast, but I have such a diverse music sense that — maybe something from Outkast or maybe something from Darius Rucker. I’m a big fan of his. But that [“House of Cards”] theme song is so badass. I might just pick that. And to be honest, I don’t think I’d hear anything. I’d either be laughing or crying.