 Fincher stated that every main cast member was their first choice . In the first read through , he said " I want everybody here to know that you represent our first choice — each actor here represents our first choice for these characters . So do not fuck this up . " Spacey , whose last regular television role was in the series <unk> , responded positively to the script . He then played Richard III , which Fincher said was " great training " . Spacey supported the decision to release all of the episodes at once , believing that this type of release pattern will be increasingly common with television shows . He said , " When I ask my friends what they did with their weekend , they say , ' Oh , I stayed in and watched three seasons of Breaking Bad ' or it 's two seasons of Game of <unk> " . He was officially cast on March 18 , 2011 . Robin Wright was approached by Fincher to star in the series when they worked together in The Girl with the Dragon <unk> . She was cast as Claire Underwood in June 2011 . Kate Mara was cast as Zoe Barnes in early February 2012 . Mara 's sister , <unk> Mara , worked with Fincher in The Girl with the Dragon <unk> , and when Kate Mara read the part of Zoe , she " fell in love with the character " and asked her sister to " put in a word for me with Fincher " . The next month , she got a call for an audition . 
