When US actor Michael Kelly talks, politicians listen

"House of Cards" star Michael Kelly ought to be talking to reporters but instead he's working the room, trying to persuade a movie executive to cast him in "Deadpool 2."

The US actor is used to getting his way, thanks to confusion with his most famous character, ruthless White House chief-of-staff Doug Stamper in the hit Netflix political drama.

It is a mark of the impact that the chillingly cold-blooded Stamper has had on popular culture that real-life politicians are intimidated when they see Kelly in Washington lobbying for one of his causes.

"Doug Stamper walks the halls of Congress and people, they listen. It's funny — it's real," says Kelly, 48, when he finally sits down clutching a beer. 

The issues closest to Kelly's heart are care for the elderly -- he played a key role last year in the reauthorization of the Older American Act -- and the epidemic of opioid abuse.

Stamper cajoles, blackmails and murders his way to the top in "House of Cards" but, as is often the way, Kelly turns out to be a teddy bear in real life.

"I'm a very happy man. I'm really nothing like that guy... I usually walk into a room smiling and saying hello, so the guard goes down," says the Irish-Italian father-of-two, who grew up in the southern state of Georgia. 

Kelly is at the plush Langham Huntington hotel in Pasadena, southern California, for a Q&A with America's assembled TV critics about his new show, the eight-episode FX/BBC period drama "Taboo."

- Cold-blooded -

Set in London during the early 19th century, the series is the proudest achievement of Kelly's career, with a lead actor in Tom Hardy whom Kelly believes is currently the best in the business. 

"When you have a certain level of success it gives you a certain level of confidence to be a little more free than I was say five years ago," Kelly tells AFP.

"Hopefully I'm at the point one day where I'm completely free but it's really hard to just let everything go. It's what we all strive for."

Before Netflix came calling, the actor had enjoyed a steady TV career, often playing police in crime dramas, and a burgeoning big screen resume which included parts in M Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable" (2000) and Clint Eastwood’s "The Changeling" (2008).

Over four seasons, Kelly developed what would become one of the most deliciously cold-blooded, pitiless characters in modern drama, earning an Emmy nomination along the way. 

Higher profile big screen roles have followed, including in the Superman reboot "Man of Steel" and real-life mountaineering disaster movie "Everest," alongside Jason Clark, Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Brolin.

The role involved enduring altitude sickness during two weeks of trekking in the Nepalese Himalayas.

"It's tough man, and what's funny is how it affects people differently. I'm in good shape but I had headaches," he says. 

"It felt like Brolin was taking his palms and smashing my temples as hard as he could."

- 'I feel grateful' -

As a passionate politico, an ally of the Clintons and a Hollywood name, it should come as no surprise that Kelly is contemptuous of President Donald Trump, and is happy to list his many reasons. 

But he echoes a sentiment which got fellow actor Nicole Kidman into trouble early this month -- that Americans should get behind Trump now that he is in the White House.   

"I will be a critic but I won't bash him. I'm not going to use any bad words," said Kelly, who was interviewed days before Trump was sworn in.

Netflix has announced that "House of Cards" season five will be available on May 30 with a trailer that promises even darker storylines. 

Regardless of whether he gets the "Deadpool" gig, Kelly will have been working pretty much non-stop since 2008 and it's tempting to wonder whether he makes much time for himself.   

"No, I love working, man. I feel grateful," he insists.

He laughs at the suggestion that, with his single-minded ambition and unshakeable work ethic, he might be more like Doug Stamper than he cares to admit.

"I guess so," he replies sheepishly. "It's a blast. I love it!"