“House of Cards” actress Robin Wright is set to visit UF next Thursday.
Wright is known for her roles as Jenny in “Forrest Gump” and Buttercup in “The Princess Bride,” in addition to Claire Underwood in the Netflix series “House of Cards.”
Wright was chosen to be the last speaker of the semester because “House of Cards” is a popular series among students, said Accent Chairman Corey Flayman.
“We were looking for an excellent speaker for the end of the year,” he said.
Flayman said Wright will be paid $75,000 to speak at 8 p.m. at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. It will be moderated by UF journalism professor Mike Foley, and students can ask questions at the end.
The event is free and open to the public. Students can pick up tickets at noon Wednesday at the Phillips Center Box Office with their Gator 1 Cards. There is a limit of two tickets per person.
Kalyani Hawaldar, a UF sociology junior, said she is excited Wright is coming to speak because Claire is her favorite “House of Cards” character. After hearing the news, she even tweeted at Wright to sign a painting she made of Claire.
.@RealRobinWright Heard you're coming to .@UF. Will you pl sign my painting of Claire? @accentspeakers @TheAlligator pic.twitter.com/5EM7O3myeu
— Kalyani (@kalyani_h) April 8, 2015
“She is so fierce, and she has this power to her, which I admire about her character and as a woman,” Hawaldar, 20, said.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 4/9/2015]
