Viola Davis was terrified playing Michelle Obama
Category: Television and Streaming
The new Showtime anthology series The First Lady has an impressive cast, not least of which are Viola Davis (Michelle Obama), Gillian Anderson (Eleanor Roosevelt), and Michelle Pfeiffer (Betty Ford). Dakota Fanning plays Susan Ford, Aaron Eckhart is Gerald Ford, O-T Fagbenle is Barack Obama, Kiefer Sutherland is Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ellen Burstyn is Sara Roosevelt. With this great cast come three intriguing stories about the women who have played a major part in our country’s history.
The series is a work of fiction based on actual people and events. There is no way anyone other than those who were there would be able to create exact dialogue, however what the producers were after were the tone of the women and their contributions to their husbands and the country.
Of the three women, Davis is the only one who had to contend with the fact that the person she was portraying would possibly be watching her. When asked if this crossed her mind as she was filming the scenes, she replied, “Let me tell you something, Francine. Not only does it come to mind, it keeps you up at night, yes, because you don’t want to insult them by your portrayal. And here’s the thing. It’s a famous quote. I think it’s Thoreau who says, ‘To be known is to be misunderstood.’ As much as we feel like we know Michelle Obama and I did everything I possibly could to research, I mean everything, but still, in those private moments, there is some level of, sort of, creative decision‑making that you have to take. I mean, I don’t know how she lays in bed with Barack. I don’t know how she would discipline her children. There’s just small minutia that I can take creative license with and hope that I’m not insulting her with it, and that’s what you have to navigate as an artist.” Davis graciously added that the word she would use to describe the experience is “terrifying.”
Executive producers Susanne Bier and Cathy Schulman decided to focus on three women each season. “The thing is that three is a great number for a season because you can do in‑depth portraits, but it’s also incredibly interesting how the three ladies reflect upon each other, and that’s why it’s a fantastic number,” Bier explained. “So whatever three ladies it is going to be next season, I still think that three is the right way of doing it.”
Schulman explained about the selection of the three first ladies this season. “What they had in common that fascinates, I think, in so many ways is that none of them wanted to be there. Eleanor wanted to be there but only if she could be president. She didn’t want to be there as first lady. And Betty went into the White House kicking and screaming, and Michelle was absolutely terrified for the lives of herself and her family. And finding that living in that house turned out to be a benefit to themselves, to their families, and their countries ultimately was an incredibly similar ‑‑ was a really interesting unifier that they had.”
Both Pfeiffer and Anderson expressed their honor at being able to portray the strong women. Davis is also an executive producer on the show as well as playing Obama.
While this is a work of historical fiction, viewers will get a sense of the three women who have been first ladies of the United States. And watching their mannerisms and hearing their vocal inflections, the actors were spot on.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years and has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association, was a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and is accredited by the MPAA. Follow her on Twitter.
Courtesy photo from Paramount+