After the purchase of one Amtrak ticket, a $70 cab fare and two nerve-wracking weeks of waiting, junior Keely Sullivan had finally received the call.

She would play a role on Netflix’s House of Cards.

Sullivan, a broadcast and digital journalism and French and francophone studies double major, was cast in June to play a reporter in the hit show. Although Sullivan plays as an extra with about 20 other actors, she said she is featured at least once in every episode of the show.

“It really helped that I was a real life reporter,” she said. “For the reporter roles, they wanted people who were actually reporters so it seemed a little more natural.”

She had first heard about the casting call through her boyfriend, Jesper van den Bergh, a junior policy studies major. Both students were summer interns in Washington, D.C., and are huge fans of the political drama.

Van den Bergh said he found out about the call in a section on Reddit dedicated to House of Cards. From there, the two spontaneously set out for Maryland for a chance to be on one of their favorite shows.

“The community there was also really supportive when I told them about us going to the audition and Keely making it,” van den Bergh said.

Sullivan has dreamed about being an actress since she was 6 years old, but put her plans aside when she began college. She decided to work toward a “realistic dream” of being a journalist, but been acting on campus since her freshman year. She joined Humor Whore, an experimental comedy group at SU and now runs a theater company at SU called WhAT Theatre.

With three shoots already under her belt, Sullivan said that being on set is a cool experience, and that seeing actors in their element is incredible. She added that she hasn’t talked with the actors personally— she doesn’t want to disturb them while they’re running lines. Though, her friends have said actor Kevin Spacey is a great guy.

Not only does seeing actors on set thrill Sullivan, but the opportunity to work in close intimate scenes with them is also something she thought she would never have. Sullivan said she may get a script while on set, but with set changes and lines happening so fast, she has to be prepared for anything.

“Being an extra, it’s exciting in a way that you don’t know what’s going to happen until you get there,” Sullivan said. “It’s very unexpected. It’s kind of a whirlwind and you have to be patient and on your A-game.”

Sullivan will be shooting until December, and will have to commute on the weekends from Syracuse to Washington, D.C. This five-hour drive will be difficult for the full-time student, but she said it’s worth the hassle. Sullivan even considered taking a semester off from SU if the show needed her more than once or twice each month.

Mack Bleach, a senior television, radio and film major, met Sullivan two years ago while working together in Humor Whore. Sullivan said Bleach had been trying to get her to take acting seriously for years, and pushed her to audition for the House of Cards role.

“I know she was apprehensive at first, and I told her there was really nothing to lose, there’s only everything to gain,” Bleach said. “It’s honestly a once in a lifetime opportunity and she happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Sullivan said that she hopes this role will help her with future acting opportunities, and has already met people who will help her career on set. She added that she’s made plenty of good friends among the chaos of shooting.

Said Sullivan: “It’s an opportunity I think I’m going to remember forever. The people I have met have really been incredible to advance my career.”

Published on August 28, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Jackie: jmfrere@syr.edu | @jackie_frere