As the steely First Lady in House of Cards and now a fearsome warrior in Wonder Woman, Robin Wright is having a ball playing powerful, ruthless women. As she puts her devastating divorce from Sean Penn behind her, Robin tells Alex Clark where it all went so right.
A sneak peek at the opening episode of the fifth season of House of Cards. Robin Wright, who plays First Lady to Kevin Spacey’s President of the United States, stares into the camera. “I’ve been meaning to talk with you. It’s terrifying, isn’t it? The President and I have a simple request. Tell us what you see. My husband and I …” She continues chillingly, “want to protect you”.
Suddenly, we are back in the coercive, wheedling world of Frank and Claire Underwood, their menace cloaked in carefully orchestrated concern. Yet Robin Wright seems entirely, physically different from Claire when I meet her in a casual Los Angeles restaurant. Her First Lady is elegant in trademark sculpted neutrals, but she is also bodily imposing. You wonder how Robin – fine-boned, petite, delicate – fills those power outfits.
I tell her that I once showed a picture of Claire Underwood to my hairdresser to see if she could replicate the dramatic helmet of hair. Robin bursts out laughing. “Do you have any idea how much product we put in my hair?” she asks. “Three products while it’s wet, volumising, texturising, root-lift, and a lot of curling brushes and a lot of blow-drying.” Today, she says, it’s growing out because she has temporarily set Claire Underwood, who has brought her a Golden Globe and a host of nominations, to one side.
We’re here to talk about a very different interpretation of female power. In what is, essentially, her first action movie, Robin becomes the Amazon warrior General Antiope in the new Wonder Woman film. Indeed, she plays the aunt of Diana, Princess of Amazons, and chief martial trainer, complete with swords, swishing cape and breastplate.
This story is from the July 2017 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 2017 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
