The upcoming Showtime anthology series The First Lady has announced that Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Thank You For Smoking) will join its main cast as former President Gerald Ford, according to Deadline. Created by Aaron Cooley (Twelve, The Talk), the series was announced in February 2020 and will have its first season bounce around between differing lives of previous First Ladies of the United States. The series is also executive produced by the likes of Viola Davis (The Help, How to Get Away with Murder) and Susanne Bier (The Night Manager, Bird Box).
The First Lady will follow the timelines during and between three main First Ladies in its first season. The show will feature Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford, and Michelle Obama. Currently, Michelle Obama will be portrayed by Davis in addition to Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface, Batman Returns) star as Betty Ford opposite Eckhart. Additional cast will also include Pamela Adlon (Better Things, Californication) as Nancy Howe and Rhys Wakefield (True Detective) as former Vice President Dick Cheney. At the moment, Eleanor Roosevelt’s casting still remains unknown.
Eckhart will star as President Ford who previously played football at the University of Michigan before entering politics. From here, President Ford became Vice President and President of the United States despite not being elected through the Electoral College process. Eckhart is mostly known for his film roles such as Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight as well as his Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 2005 film Thank You for Smoking. This role will act as his newest television role in addition to his impending voice-acting contribution to the AMC animated series Pantheon.
Currently, there is not an announced release date for the Showtime anthology series.