The Passage and Fast Color star Saniyya Sidney will play Sasha Obama opposite Viola Davis’ Michelle Obama in Showtime’s upcoming anthology series, The First Lady.
The other leading ladies for season 1 are Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt. As for the rest of the Obamas, Lexi Underwood is Malia Obama and O-T Fagbenle is Barack Obama.
Other stars include Jayme Lawson (who will be a young Michelle Obama), Julian De Niro (young Barack Obama) Aaron Eckhart, Rhys Wakefield, Judy Greer, Dakota Fanning, Kristine Froseth, Derek Cecil, Aya Cash, Jake Picking, Cayden Boyd, Marc Hills, Ben Cook, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Thomas E. Sullivan and Patrice Johnson Chevannes.
The description: In the East Wing of the White House, 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. This series will peel back the curtain on the personal and political lives of three unique, enigmatic women, tracing their journeys to Washington through interweaving storylines with an enlightening intimacy, with season one focusing on Michelle Obama, Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt.
The project is written by Aaron Cooley with Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions, Cathy Schulman’s Welle Entertainment, Gaspin Media and Brad Kaplan producing. Showtime and Lionsgate TV are co-producers. Susanne Bier directs and executive produces.
The idea for the series came from Schulman, inspired by a spec script Cooley wrote about Lady Bird Johnson. All of the source material comes from the public domain.
