Showtime has dropped the trailer for The First Lady, the upcoming anthology series starring Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt. The series has also been given an April 17 premiere date.
The 10-episode series, from Lionsgate Television, was created by Aaron Coole and is executive produced by Cathy Schulman, who is the serves as showrunner, and Oscar and Emmy winner Susanne Bier (The Undoing) executive produces and directs all of season one
The official description:
THE FIRST LADY is a revelatory reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House. In the government’s East Wing, 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 series will peel back the curtain on the personal and political lives of three unique, enigmatic women and their families, tracing their journeys to Washington, dipping into their pasts and following them beyond the White House into their greatest moments. Through interweaving storylines so intimate it’s as if the White House walls are talking, season one focuses on the enlightening lives of Michelle Obama, Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt.
The series also stars:
Kiefer Sutherland (24) as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Aaron Eckhart (Wander) as President Gerald Ford, Dakota Fanning (The Alienist) as Susan Elizabeth Ford, Regina Taylor (I’ll Fly Away) as Michelle Robinson Obama’s mother Marian Shields Robinson, Lily Rabe (American Horror Story) as Lorena “Hick” Hickok and Jayme Lawson (The Batman) as Young Michelle Obama.
Other guest stars include O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale) as President Barack Obama, Judy Greer (KIDDING) as Nancy Howe, Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) as Sara Delano Roosevelt, Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children) as Louis McHenry Howe, Maria Dizzia (Orange Is The New Black) as Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd and Kate Mulgrew (THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH) as Susan Sher.
Executive producers also include 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.