11 Years After ‘House of Cards,’ Kate Mara Is Still Freaked Out by the Subway

At the premiere of 'The Dutchman' at SXSW, Mara said she doesn't have too many crazy subway stories because Zoe Barnes kind of ruined it for her.

By Lauren Tousignant  |  March 10, 2025 | 5:13pm
Photo: Getty Images EntertainmentMovies
11 Years After ‘House of Cards,’ Kate Mara Is Still Freaked Out by the Subway

AUSTIN, Texas—The New York City subway system has gotten a lot of attention over the last few months; following some highly publicized deaths and assaults, tabloids began publishing stories about how commuters are now standing with their backs against the platform wall like never before. That may or may not be true; I have no idea how we’d go about confirming it. However, I do know that if you lived in New York (or anywhere else with a subway system) in 2014, then you’ve been standing with your back glued to the wall for at least a decade.

After watching Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) get shoved in front of a D.C. Metro train in the first episode of House of Cards‘ second season, I don’t think I’ve ever stood further than half an inch away from the back wall. Sure, Barnes was following Francis Underwood, bugging him for a scoop, and I’m almost never pestering a congressman on public transit…yet any time I’m standing on a busy platform, or notice my foot is resting more than two inches from that back wall, I feel the spirit of that 11-year-old episode grabbing my shoulders and trying to throw me onto the tracks. So, in January, when places like the New York Post started reporting on everyone’s shifting subway platform habits, I was mostly just shocked to learn that not everyone is making decisions based on the image of Barnes’ silhouette illuminated by subway lights.

Lo and behold, Mara agrees. At the premiere of her new movie, The Dutchman, at SXSW over the weekend, Mara said the subway still freaks her out.

“I still get a little nervous on the subway. Ever since I did House of Cards,” Mara said. “So it always reminds me of Zoe Barnes, every time I go in the subway. Gotta stay real far behind.”

Mara spoke to Jezebel on the red carpet for The Dutchman, which is a psychological thriller based on the famed 1964 play by Amiri Baraka. Mara stars as the nefarious Lula, who stalks and seduces a Black man, Clay (played by André Holland), on a New York subway (which is why we were chatting public transit), and the night descends into madness.

It’s a deeply unnerving and dizzying film that I’m still trying to unpack. Director Andre Gaines expands and updates the world Baraka created in his original play—which was (and remains) a haunting metaphor for racial and societal oppression—but makes it a bit more meta. With the current administration and the increasingly nonsensical attacks on ideas as nebulous as “DEI,” the material is as relevant as it was in 1964.

Mara gives an unsettling and purposefully uncomfortable performance. Meanwhile, Holland’s third-act monologue had me holding my breath, and planning my own personal awards season campaign for him. Our longer review will be included in our SXSW roundup, but to hear more from the cast and filmmakers, follow Jezebel on TikTok.

 
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