Showtime has released the official trailer for The First Lady, which is set to premiere on Sunday, April 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. You can watch the trailer for the first season on YouTube.
The new anthology drama stars Oscar, Emmy, and Tony winner Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), as former first lady Michelle Obama, Oscar and Emmy nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit) as Betty Ford and Emmy and Screen Actors Guild winner Gillian Anderson (The Crown) as Eleanor Roosevelt.
Produced for Showtime by Lionsgate Television, the 10-episode series, created by Aaron Cooley, is executive produced by Oscar winner Cathy Schulman (Crash), who also serves as showrunner, and Oscar and Emmy winner Susanne Bier (The Undoing) executive produces and directs all of season one.
Over the upcoming Presidents’ Day weekend, Showtime will shine a light on these extraordinary First Ladies by rolling out its marketing campaign, featuring out-of-home advertising and digital projections near federal landmarks in highly trafficked travel locations, including New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago.
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.
Additional guest stars include O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale) as President Barack Obama, Judy Greer (Kidding) as Nancy Howe, and Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) as Sara Delano Roosevelt.
There’s also 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.
Cathy Schulman, via her Welle Entertainment, executive produces The First Lady along with Susanne Bier, 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.
Are you looking forward to the series? What do you think about the trailer? Let us know in the comments below.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills to cover the latest streaming, movie, TV, and game news.