But on the “House of Cards” set — temporarily erected in a small park adjacent to a block of Baltimore townhouses — this feeling was heightened by the presence of Willimon, with his facial hair that might be best described as “sort-of mutton chops”; his beeline intensity; and, of course, that name: Beau Willimon, which seems perfectly suited to a brass plaque in the South somewhere, commemorating a particularly brave or foolhardy general. His hair was an unkempt pompadour, and he wore an untucked work shirt, unlaced work boots and jeans with a back pocket so tattered that it barely cradled his wallet, a situation that at least three people, including me, felt moved to warn him about it, though he waved each of us off in turn. He had the haunted look of a man who’s worried about something much more important, and he’d only just arrived on set.

The Post-Hope Politics of ‘House of Cards’ - NYTimes.com Sunday, February 9, 2014 @ 6:00pm