Looks like Frank Underwood is going to have a Pussy Riot on his hands in the third season of House of Cards.
Two members of the Russian protest group/band were seen on set in Baltimore last Thursday, and the City Paper reports that Nadezhda "Nadya" Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina were part of filming for the new season of Netflix's smash political drama.
One of the world's preeminent anti-government groups, Pussy Riot began as an outlet to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2011. The group of approximately a dozen women achieved notoriety when they staged a protest performance at a Moscow cathedral in 2012.
Both Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were arrested and charged for their actions, and eventually served 22 months in Russian prisons before their release. Since then, City Pages reports, the group has faced more challenges, including an open letter from women claiming to be in Pussy Riot that stated they "are no longer members of the group, and will no longer take part in radical actionism."
Tolokonnikova and Alyokina both denounced the letter, and stated at New York's Lincoln Center: "Be Pussy Riot! Anyone can be Pussy Riot!"
Only two seasons old, House of Cards has already had a memorable run as a binge-format show on Netflix. When the second season was released this Valentine's Day, users of the streaming service could watch all of the episodes in one (very long) sitting.
The premise: Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) rises through the political ranks in D.C. with very calculated steps. Through it all, he breaks the fourth wall to allow the audience access to his motives.
If the Pussy Riot members indeed appear in season three, it looks like viewers will get a dose of international politics.
In May, Tolokonnikova and Alyokina told the Wall Street Journal that they had met the show's staff (Huffington Post).
"It's important for us to meet people who are doing political cinema in the U.S. because in Russia, it doesn't exist, and we want to know how it happens," Alyokhina said.
