Beau Willimon Biography

Fast Facts

• Received the Lila Acheson Wallace Julliard Playwriting Fellowship and the Lincoln Center Le Compte du Nouy Award to study at the Julliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program
• The Outer Critics Circle nominated him for the 2009 John Gassner Award
• Won an AACTA International Award from the Australian Film Institute for Best Screenplay in 2012 for "The Ides of March․"
• Earned his B․A․ from Columbia University in 1999 and his MFA in Playwriting from Columbia's School of the Arts in 2003
• Volunteered for the Senate campaign of Charles Schumer in 1998, which led to jobs with Hillary Clinton, Bill Bradley and Howard Dean, giving experience in the political arena that he would draw from for his writing
• Quote: "For me there's no greater joy than creating a world a lot of people are invested in․ But ultimately it comes down to the actors․ That's the reason why people tune in․ My goal as a writer is to give the actors the tools to do interesting things․"
• Quote: "[on "House of Cards"] "I was interested not in a remake but in a reinvention, cherry-picking some of the better archetypes and some of the big story points that seem to lend themselves to the sort of television people have come to expect these days․""
• Quote: "[on "House of Cards"] "It's my dream: to be able to delve into a story this big, with such great talent; to have the dialogue that you don't get in a play or a movie, because you're only dealing with two hours at a time․""
• A playwright, his titles include "Farragut North," which was adapted in the film "The Ides of March," "Spirit Control" and "Lower Ninth․"
• Best known to television audiences for developing the American adaptation of the BBC series "House of Cards․"