Often in the limelight but rarely in the spotlight, The First Lady, a new SHOWTIME series, will give viewers a glimpse into the lives and minds of three of the most prominent President’s wives in recent history.
The show premiered on Sunday, April 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, the 10-episode series will followed a star-studded cast as they told the stories of the White House from a rare, feminine perspective. We will explore the lives of Michelle Obama, Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt told from within the walls of the executive mansion as well as through the personal journeys that got them there.
THE CAST
The First Lady stars Oscar®, Emmy® and Tony award winner Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Oscar and Emmy nominee Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Emmy and Screen Actors Guild® winner Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt. Capturing these dynamic and strong personas wasn’t an easy gig. Davis, who is portraying the only living First Lady in the series, spoke about capturing the personality of Michelle Obama at a panel for Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour, as reported by CNN.
“[Obama] seemed like a rooted tree, a rooted oak tree,” Davis said. “There was nothing about her that felt secondary, that she was the woman behind the man. She absolutely seemed like a person who has a sense of self.”
Additional characters include Kiefer Sutherland as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Aaron Eckhart as President Gerald Ford, Dakota Fanning as Susan Elizabeth Ford, Lily Rabe as Lorena “Hick” Hickok. Supporting cast includes O-T Fagbenle as President Barack Obama, Ellen Burstyn as Sara Delano Roosevelt, Judy Greer as Nancy Howe, Jackie Earle Haley as Louis McHenry Howe, Maria Dizzia as Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, Kate Mulgrew as Susan Sher and Regina Taylor as Michelle Robinson Obama’s mother Marian Shields Robinson
THE CREATORS
The First Lady was created by Aaron Cooley and executive produced by Oscar winner, Cathy Schulman (Crash) and Susanne Bier (The Undoing), who also directs the entire first season of the series. Additional production credits go to JuVee Productions’ Viola Davis, Julius Tennon and Andrew Wang, Aaron Cooley, Pavlina Hatoupis, Alyson Feltes, Jeff Gaspin via Gaspin Media and Brad Kaplan via Link Entertainment.
The trailer showcases inside glances at the ups and downs of these iconic First Ladies’ experiences during their respective tenures in The White House, woven together with emotional ties and strikingly human moments.
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