Kate Mara Wore Pasties With Kevin Spacey's Face on Them for House of Cards Sex Scene

Actress tells Playboy about her failed attempt to make co-star laugh in potentially awkward moment

By Rebecca Macatee Apr 17, 2014 7:34 PMTags
Kate MaraJason Merritt/Getty Images

Kevin Spacey can keep his cool even in the most titillating of situations—just ask Kate Mara!

The 31-year-old actress tells Playboy when it came time to film her House of Cards sex scene with her 54-year-old co-star, she "tried to get him to laugh by wearing pasties with his face on them."

"Of course, because Kevin wants to win whatever the game is and because he always wins, he did not laugh," she says. "He waited until the director said, ‘Cut' and then he laughed."

As far as what Kate's famous football family thought of her racy scenes? "They have a sense of humor about it," she tells Playboy. "They were very upset when I was 19 and had a scene in Nip/Tuck that showed only my back but suggested nudity. I tried to explain that it's acting and part of the craft, and if it's important to the story and tastefully done, I will choose to do certain things..By the time House of Cards came along, my family had dealt with plenty of other difficult things to watch with my career and my sister's [Rooney Mara] career."

Fortunately, those two have "never had any kind of competitive thing" and are "really close," says Kate. "She and I have auditioned for some of the same parts, and we've actually checked with each other, like, ‘What time is your audition?' because it would be just awkward to see each other there."

Well, if those Kevin Spacey nipple pasties tell us anything, it's that Kate knows how to properly embrace an awkward situation!