Got Black Tie? 'House of Cards' Casting Call on Saturday

After wrangling in the Maryland legislature over tax credits, the Netflix show House of Cards has returned to the state to film its third season. 

A casting call for the political potboiler will be held Saturday in Bel Air. Executives are looking for all types, ages, sizes and ethnicities to be considered for union and non-union extras and day players. The open casting call will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 7,  at the Bel Air Armory, 37 - 41 N. Main St.

Hopefuls should come dressed in black-tie attire to showcase their D.C. political look. Bring a current headshot and resume. If you do not have a headshot and resume, a current photo is satisfactory.

House of Cards stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, who play power-hungry Congressman Francis Underwood and his ambitious wife, Claire, respectively. The show was won three Emmy Awards and been nominated for nine Emmy Awards.

The show’s producers had pushed state leaders to increase the amount of tax incentives House of Cards receives in order to keep filming the show in Maryland. Much of the series was filmed in Harford County in 2012 and returned in 2013 for its second season.

Work on the third season of the series was delayed until June while legislators weighed whether to boost tax incentives.

The production company for House of Cards in February sent Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley a letter with this warning: Give us millions more dollars in tax credits, or we will “break down our stage, sets and offices and set up in another state,” The Washington Post reports.

In March, Spacey mingled with Maryland lawmakers at an Annapolis wine bar as they considered whether to increase tax credits for film and television production.

During the final minutes of the General Assembly session, the amount of income tax credits the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development can award to film production companies was increased from $7.5 million to $18.5 million for the next fiscal year. That was $3 million less than proposed, but it left $15 million available for House of Cards.

The political drama received more than $26 million in taxpayer money over the past two years to film in the state.