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'The First Lady' Cast and Their Real-Life White House Counterparts

'The First Lady' Cast and Their Real-Life White House Counterparts

Coming to Showtime is the scripted anthology series The First Lady, which will go inside the lives of three influential first ladies of the United States. The show’s first season, which will be directed and executive produced by Susanne Bier, will star Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford, and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt. Here’s what you need to know about the star-studded historical drama and how the cast compares to their real-life counterparts. 

Series and Premiere Date 

According to the network, The First Lady “is a revelatory reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House.” Set in the East Wing, the series created by author Aaron Cooley, who is also writing several of the episodes, will show how “many of history’s most impactful and world-changing decisions have been hidden from view, made by America's charismatic, complex and dynamic first ladies.” The first season will go into the personal and political lives of three such “unique, enigmatic women,” recounting their journeys from wife to Washington.

With the key casting confirmed, production is expected to begin soon. No premiere date has been announced. 

The Star-Studded Cast

Viola Davis as Michelle Obama

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Coming off her award-winning turn as legendary blues singer Ma Rainey in the Netflix film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Davis will portray one of the most beloved former first ladies. “I am in the place of a little bit of fear, well, I am not going to lie, a lot of fear,” she recently told ET about preparing to play Obama, revealing she’s done it all. “I started last year... I had the privilege and honor and blessing to be able to talk to her and read her book of course, watch her documentary, look at every video.” 

Davis adds that “she is all things. She is a hero. She is just one of those women and people who lives a life bigger than herself and I hope to honor that. [We’ve been doing] makeup tests at my house with my makeup artist and they are doing an extraordinary job with the transformation of it all.”

Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford 

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Pfeiffer’s turn as the one-term first lady of the 1970s marks her return to TV after portraying Ruth Madoff in HBO’s 2017 film The Wizard of Lies.

Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt

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Anderson’s portrayal of Roosevelt, who is the longest-serving first lady in history, follows her celebrated performance as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opposite Olivia Colman in the fourth season of The Crown

The rest of the cast includes Aaron Eckhart as Gerald Ford, who was a one-term president from 1974 to 1977, Judy Greer as Betty Ford’s trusted confidante and social secretary, Nancy Howe, Jayme Lawson as young Michelle Obama, Kristine Froseth as young Betty Ford, and Rhys Wakefield as President Ford’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Dick Cheney.

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