America’s former first ladies have more in common than meets the eye. At least, that’s what Showtime is saying in their new anthology series.
The First Lady is the latest new series from Showtime that aims to reveal the journeys of America’s most prominent First Ladies and the surprising ways they are all connected. From Eleanor Roosevelt to Betty Ford to Michelle Obama, the former first ladies have more to their stories than who they were married to.
Roosevelt’s story hones in on the challenges she faced with her husband’s health and her passion to be more politically involved. Ford’s journey details her struggles with alcoholism and feeling isolated and trapped inside the White House. And Obama’s plot focuses on her concerns for her family’s safety as well as her desire to help America’s families.
These are obviously big shows to fill, but it seems like their stories are in very capable hands. Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Ford, Gillian Anderson portrays Roosevelt and Viola Davis plays Obama. Producer Cathy Schulman told Vanity Fair when they were casting the role they wanted to be intentional about more than the look of the character.
“We really wanted to focus our choices on who we felt as an actress would best embody the ladies,” Schulman said. “We focused less on ‘do they look like the ladies?’ because that became very distracting as a notion.”
Davis gave us a glimpse of what can expect, it definitely fits the bill. We can’t wait to watch the rest of the series when it premieres on Showtime on April 17.
She didn’t just speak up, she spoke out. #WomensHistoryMonth #TheFirstLady https://t.co/BJZsffgc8h pic.twitter.com/l0aC92xUql
— Viola Davis (@violadavis) April 1, 2022
