Why ‘House of Cards’ Actor Michael Kelly Makes Time to Ride Every Day
Michael Kelly is on the move. For six seasons of Netflix’s House of Cards he played menacing D.C. fixer Doug Stamper, a captivating and nuanced performance that earned him four Emmy nominations. The series, which wrapped up last November, has been a huge part of his life ever since the first season dropped back in 2013, kicking off the binge-watching phenomena.
Now, he joins the sophomore cast Amazon’s Jack Ryan as CIA field officer Mike November, starring alongside John Krasinski and Wendell Piece. The second season premieres on November 1.
Kelly’s commute has changed as well. The journey to the set of House of Cards in Baltimore or D.C. from his apartment in New York City used to be just a three-hour car drive. But filming Jack Ryan took him a little farther away: to Colombia.
The life of an actor can be a transient one, so Kelly has worked hard to cultivate a stable routine when at home with his family. One thing that has remained constant? Making time to get on his bike—something he does every day, whether he is riding his way to date night with his wife, Karyn, or taking his kids on a ride to the East River.
A former NYC bike messenger while he was waiting for his big break, Kelly credits his two wheels for helping him build his career, decompress after stressful days on set, and keep his health in check. We caught up with Kelly to learn more.
Bicycling: How long have you been riding?
Michael Kelly: I started out as a BMX kid when I was growing up in Lawrenceville, Georgia, which is a suburb of Atlanta. Back behind our house, we had a lot of woods that seemed to stretch out forever. It wasn’t our property, but we had access to it. My buddies and I built a full-on BMX track back on it. There was a straight ramp and whoop dee doos. We spent entire summers out there building it and riding on it. My folks still have the house and you can see some of it back there.
What did you ride back then?
I remember wanting one of those cool PK Ripper BMXs desperately. We didn’t have a lot of money, but my parents managed to get me an old royal blue Schwinn. I was able to grab a couple used mags from a friend who had upgraded. They were yellow. So it ended up being a cool color combo, matching the yellow lettering on the Schwinn. I kept riding when I went to college in South Carolina, on Myrtle Beach, and I was surfing a lot back then. I would ride a bike cruiser to get my board to the sand.
Did you keep riding when you moved to New York?
I probably started biking more. I actually became a bike messenger to make money pretty early on, before my career started going. I did it for about two or three years solid. This was before cellphones and I had to carry around a pocket full of quarters so that I could contact the buildings I was delivering to. I eventually hit a point in my acting career that I didn’t have to do it anymore, because it got kind of dangerous.
I was a bike messenger, too. Did you ever have any incidents while on the job?
Yes. I got hit. I remember it vividly. I was traveling south on Broadway, turning left onto Houston Street. The light turned yellow, I was [pushing it], but still had the right of way. This guy [in a taxi] blew through it, and I saw him at the last second, but it was way too late. He hit me. I went over his windshield and onto the street. There was an off-duty cop that saw the whole thing and jumped into a taxi to chase the guy down. Nothing ever came from it though. He got away.
Did you walk away okay?
I was lucky that I didn’t break anything, but it definitely scared the sh-- out of me. I was sore as hell the next morning, but I only stayed off the bike for about three days. Still to this day, I think about it from time to time. Especially now that I have kids, I am a little more careful out there, probably still not as careful as I should be.
But bicycling in the city is always going to be a little dangerous. There is a similarity to riding a motorcycle, where you need to always be playing defense. You just can’t go on the offense, ever. Or you are going to be in trouble. People are always going the wrong way and not looking. I don’t care if it is a one-way street or not, you always need to check both ways.
How often do you ride these days?
I ride every day. I ride everywhere I need to go, as long as it is below midtown New York. It is my main mode of transportation. I have two bikes that I use regularly, a Brilliant and a Priority. They are both everyday bikes. The coolest thing about the Brilliant bikes is that there is no chain. I bike to all of my work meetings, and you don’t really want to show up with grease on your hands. Or have your pant leg all jacked up. So now I am really digging that.
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What do you like about riding a bike to business meetings?
The great part of riding the bicycle to my meetings is that I have to show up early, especially during the warmer months. The last thing that you want to do is show up to a meeting sweaty, so I get there early and give myself some time to acclimate and cool down. It forces me to be on time, and not just that, but early. I think it definitely has been beneficial to my career. Not only that, but I use my bike rides to reflect. I usually ride a lot slower going back than I do [on the way] there.
Is there a meeting that sticks out in your mind early in your career?
I rode to everything back then. One of the biggest moments was a meeting I had with Miloš Forman, who gave me a role in Man in The Moon with Jim Carrey. That was a big one for me. The place was Uptown, and I remember sitting in Central Park before I went in.
Do you ever bring a bike with you when you are filming a show?
I brought two Priority bikes with me when I was filming House of Cards. The production offices and the set were about a quarter mile away from each other, so I kept one on set so I could ride back and forth. I also kept one in the apartment that I stayed at in Baltimore while doing the show. The apartment itself was really minimalistic, like the way I felt that Stamper would really live, but I had a bike in there. I lived right on the waterfront, and would just take these long rides to think about my lines and what scenes I had coming up the next day. Playing that character, and the kind of scenes that he had, I needed to be alone a lot. So taking a quiet ride by the water was a perfect activity.
Do find people recognize you when you bike around the city?
It happens all the time! [Laughs.] They will shout out “Stamper” or “Doug.” By the time that they yell it, I have usually blown half a block past them. I will raise my hand if I can, just to let them know that they got it right. Sometimes I will be at a stoplight, and the car next to me will roll down the window to say hello. One time they tried to get out of their car to get a photo. I asked them to stay in their car, I took their phone, and snapped a selfie of us for them.
Do you ride with the family?
Our family lives in the Lower East Side, and one of our favorite activities is to ride along the East River. My son’s baseball games take place out there on the river. Or we will just bring a picnic on a weekend. It is just a special thing to be able to do together. My kids are 7 and 10, so we keep their riding in the neighborhood.
We got them started pretty early on the bikes, when they were about 4 years old or so. No more than that. I remember Frankie getting on one of those early Priority bikes that have these non-inflatable tires. They started out with training wheels. I can’t wait until they are a little older and we can go farther on our family rides. It is also how my wife Karyn and I spend our nights out together.
What does a typical date night on the bikes look like?
For the most part, we like to stay downtown, close to where we live. So we will get on the bikes and take a ride to a neighborhood restaurant like La Esquina or Vic’s. At some point in the night we will ride over to Top Hops. Back in the day, we would go there for real beers, but these days we don’t drink. So we will go for a non-alcoholic IPA and just enjoy the company. It is nice to be able to enjoy that experience but not have to worry about the ride home.
Have you felt health benefits from biking as well?
I get a lot of comments on the kind of shape that I am in. People ask me what my “secret” is. I have to say that it is all thanks to how active I am throughout the day. I am riding the bike a few miles a day at least, and sometimes much, much more. So that is a lot of added cardio to the routine. It keeps the heart rate up, and you just feel good. It is a mode of transportation and exercise that I just so happy to truly enjoy.
Grooming by Jennifer Brent using R+Co and Koh Gen Do / TraceyMattingly.com
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