The House Of Cards Character You Likely Forgot Willa Fitzgerald Played
After beginning her career with short films and some network TV guest spots (via IMDb), Willa Fitzgerald first caught the public eye thanks to her role in MTV's "Scream" television series and films like "The Goldfinch." She also starred in "Alpha House" and the short-lived USA series "Dare Me" as well before joining the Amazon drama "Reacher."
In her biggest television hit to date, Fitzgerald plays Officer Roscoe Conklin, a cop in the town of Margrave who joins Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) and Oscar (Malcolm Goodwin) in an investigation of a mysterious conspiracy. In an interview with The Illuminerdi, the actor commented that "I think playing a character who kind of has that much drive is always a really fun opportunity...I was really excited to get to see where that goes and read more about Rosco."
Willa Fitzgerald has made so many appearances in television over the years that it may be easy to forget about her pivotal performance in the final episodes of Netflix's controversial drama "House of Cards."
She played a young Claire on House of Cards
The final season of "House of Cards" focuses on Claire's (Robin Wright) term as President after Frank's (Kevin Spacey) death as she looks back on her marriage and legacy. To that end, the season has some crucial flashbacks, as a young Claire decides to marry Frank and not the man she really wants.
Willa Fitzgerald guested on "Chapter 72" and "Chapter 73," the last two episodes of the show, to play a 20-year-old Claire as she makes the decisions that will impact the rest of her life as well as the country. In an interview with CBS, Fitzgerald revealed that she was intimidated to play Claire because she "had never played a younger version of a character who had already been around for such a long time" and loved Wright's work on the series.
Ultimately, Fitzgerald did capture a younger version of Wright's flinty character in only a few scenes, even if the sixth season and series finale of "House of Cards" weren't received especially well (via Vox).