Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson on Portraying Formidable Women in Showtime's "The First Lady"

The ten episodes weave the women39s disparate lives into a cohesive drama starring Viola Davis Gillian Anderson and Michelle Pfeiffer as Obama Roosevelt and Ford respectively They39re shown in flashbacks in similar parts of their lives as feisty teens and young women determined to make a difference Viewers are treated to peeks at their courtships glimpses of their marriages and their time in the White House We see them as mothers and on the world stage but mainly we see them as fully drawn womenquotWe had a very difficult decision to make early on which was how will we span this many years in three stories with one actorquot showrunner executive producer and writer Cathy Schulman told MediaVillage quotThe ultimate decision was to cast in the middle to upperend of the age range and to cast their younger selves with ingenue actresses and the decision was made by a group of middleaged women This doesn39t sound like a thing to sell itquotAnd yet it39s every reason to watch Middleaged women star direct and produce the epic series offering a vantage of history we should but don39t know Speaking from South Africa where she was shooting a film with Davis Schulman Oscarwinning coproducer of Crash elaborated on the castingquotWhen you start with Viola Davis you need to surround her with people of equal gravitasquot she said quotBecause the tricky thing about any kind of ensemble filmmaking and I39ve done a lot of this it39s actually been sort of my specialty is that the audience would be more interested in one character than the other or spend time wishing that they could be in the other story So the key was we wanted them to be equally captivating equally strongquotViewers will find themselves invested in a plain girl of privilege from New York Roosevelt coming of age at the turn of the century And they39ll be equally intrigued by a Midwestern free spirit Ford who taught dance as a child to make money during the Depression A South Side Chicago teen Obama determined to excel at the best schools and become a lawyer in the 1980s also captivates As different as these women were they shared deep reservoirs of strength and compassionquotI wish there were more similar qualities between me and Eleanor Roosevelt to be honestquot Anderson pictured above acknowledged during a recent Television Critics Association press conference quotShe was an extraordinary human being and her entire life was about being of service She lived and breathed duty and she felt like she had a responsibility well before she got into the White House the work that she did for the underprivileged She started a school and even when Franklin was governor would send the money that she made to charity Everything that she did was to be of service for those less fortunate than herselfquotDavis acknowledged that portraying Obama was terrifying especially because as the most recent first lady featured people retain strong opinionsquotEverybody has a time period where they loved her hair or hated her hair or loved her eyebrows or hated her eyebrows and they feel like they own herquot Davis pictured above second from left notedConsidering what struck her about Obama Davis said quother height amp8230 but also amp8209amp8209 I don39t want to say confidence because that39s almost reductive amp8209amp8209 but her sense of worth her sense of belonging that seemed like a rooted oak treequotEach First Lady meets challenges headon Pfeiffer radiates Ford39s warmth and sense of fun happy to knock back a drink and take a spin on the dance floor When Ford had a mastectomy she spurred thousands of women to get mammograms When she talked frankly about quitting drinking and kicking painkillers it encouraged others to seek help Before Ford people whispered about these subjects yet she put on a fabulous outfit and faced the camerasquotIt39s one thing to be brave in the privacy of your own circumstancesquot Pfeiffer said quotBetty Ford did it in front of the whole world and still managed to be fearless frank and kind For millions of women across this country she wrote a new chapter of American history practically on a daily basis shedding light on many issues no First Lady had ever acknowledged challenges that affected thousands of people while being utterly taboo to discussquotWhile the focus is on the First Ladies the presidents naturally play important roles with Kiefer Sutherland as FDR Aaron Eckhart as Gerald Ford and OT Fagbenle as Barack Obama The cast includes Ellen Burstyn as FDR39s disapproving of Eleanor anyway mother Regina Taylor as Michele39s mom Marian Robinson Lily Rabe as Hick a reporter who was Eleanor39s lover and Dakota Fanning as daughter Susan FordExecutive producer and director Susanne Bier with a background in design and architecture used the White House as the series39 continuity thread Each woman made it her own yet it retains the constancy of history as the first ladies walk through legendary roomsquotPart of the First Lady39s mission is to redecorate the house which for example for Eleanor was not a particularly pleasurable endeavorquot Bier said quotSo there is this expectation of shaping the space into one39s own taste We were very keen on being very personal and being very loyal to each First Lady in terms of what all of the visuals were likequotWhile these visuals perfectly reflect the clothes cars and furnishings of their times the tone captures how foolish people tried to censor these women Each administration had political functionaries deluded enough to think that they could stifle First LadiesquotI was most fascinated by the march of timequot Schulman shared quotAnd the march to find their voice as women and the constant sublimation of their voices and the sort of unanimity with which these women ultimately had to find their way through this sort of patriarchal morassquotA scene in the fifth episode illustrates this beautifullyquotAs press secretary all events in this house go through mequot a blowhard tells Eleanor about a press conference she wanted for women reporters quotThis idea reveals a clear basic misunderstanding of your role in this housequotUnblinking Eleanor replies quotThe role of the First Lady has never officially been defined or codifiedquotquotBut the expectations have by time and practicequot he retorts quotI cannot allow thisquotTelling these women what they are allowed to do is not only futile it39s a dare A scene with only women reporters at a press conference followsWhile the season showcases these three First Ladies Schulman acknowledged her goalquotI guess the binding thing was where do you start an anthology series that you hope will go on many many years and deal with all of the womenquot Schulman said quotI hope we39ll get through all of them if we count Melania anywayquotThe First Lady is telecast Sundays at 9 pm on ShowtimeClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson on Portraying Formidable Women in Showtime's "The First Lady"

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Jacqueline Cutler

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Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson on Portraying Formidable Women in Showtime's "The First Lady"

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