Vic Mackey's fate has been left unknown ever since The Shield ended its seven-season run.  But there's a lot more in cards for his portrayer, Michael Chiklis.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 45-year-old actor is developing a new series at FX called House of Cards, continuing his behind-the-scenes work after serving as producer on the last few seasons of The Shield.

The new series will sound familiar to anyone familiar with the Bernard Madoff scandal, which saw Wall Street businessman Bernard Madoff arrested and charged with securities fraud in what is traditionally referred to as a Ponzi scheme.  Chiklis didn't lose any money in the escalating scandal. But he did fall victim to another Ponzi scheme early this year.  And now, he's developing a TV series fueled by his experience.

"It really rocked our world," Chiklis said.  "Not so much from a monetary standpoint -- it didn't significantly hurt us -- it was more the feeling of being betrayed and the ripple effect it caused."

A Ponzi scheme involves a few select participants gaining wealth rough the investment of later contributors who they are scamming, while making it seem like there is growth thanks to the business the contributors thought they were getting involved in.  For Chiklis, the actor's monetary loss was compounded by his regret of convincing friends to invest too, believing he was helping them.

"That was the worst part of it," the former Shield star said.  "It's one thing when you lose your own money, but here you lose your friends' money while your true heart's hope was to make them money."

House of Cards will likely revolve around the leader of the scheme.  And while some are not too keen on the premise of the show, questioning how many seasons a scam story could possibly stretch, Chiklis reasons that his case has been going on for five years and isn't entirely resolved.

"There's quite a lot that goes on during the course of this thing," Chiklis said. "It destroys relationships and marriages, it's intense.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
(Image courtesy of FX)