The First Lady has announced some late additions to the show to star alongside an extremely talented cast. According to Deadline, Oscar-nominee Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), Tony-nominee Maria Dizzia (Orange Is the New Black), and Jeremy Bobb (The Outsider) are all set for recurring roles on the series.
The First Lady is an anthology series which gives a new look at history as the series uses powerful women of the time to detail American leadership. The first season will focus on Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford, and Michelle Obama.
All three of the new cast members, Haley, Dizzia, and Bobb, will be involved in Eleanor Roosevelt’s, played by Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), part of the show. Haley is set to play Louis McHenry Howe, a former reporter and political advisor to Franklin Delano Roosevelt who also was a close confidant to Eleanor. Howe ended up ruining FDR’s run at a landslide election victory in 1932 which will be an important point in the series’ run. Dizzia will take on the role of Lucy Mercer Rutherford, another one of Eleanor Roosevelt’s good friends. She ended up having a scandalous affair with FDR, changing Eleanor’s life monumentally. Bobb will have his hands full as he takes on Eleanor’s uncle and former president, Teddy Roosevelt. The ambitious and energetic president was a big influence on Eleanor as a mentor.
The three new names on the cast list are joining an insanely impressive fold of actors. Oscar nominee Viola Davis (The Suicide Squad) and Michelle Pfieffer (Scarface) are slated to play Michelle Obama and Betty Ford respectively. Keifer Sutherland will also join the cast as Franklin Roosevelt which will be fun performance no doubt. O.T. Fagbenle (Black Widow) as Barack Obama, Dakota Fanning (The Alienist) as Susan Elizabeth Ford, and Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) as Gerald Ford will also be exciting for fans to watch.
Although there is no set release date for the Showtime series, it is expected to come sometime in 2021. Stay tuned for information as the show continues to work through production.