Viola Davis is preparing to go high, not low, for her next TV performance.
The award-winning actress will portray former first lady Michelle Obama in the new Showtime anthology series First Ladies, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter report. This upcoming show is set to follow the lives of several first ladies, with other episodes focusing on Eleanor Roosevelt and Betty Ford. It doesn't yet have a series order, with Showtime having committed to three scripts.
Davis will be the most high-profile actress to have portrayed Michelle Obama on screen, though the former first lady was played by Tika Sumpter in the 2016 drama Southside with You, which followed Barack and Michelle Obama on their first date. Variety reports that no actress has previously played Michelle Obama on television. Earlier this year, Davis praised Obama, who she has met at the White House, calling her "the Queen" and "my image of grace and beauty and intelligence."
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First Ladies will be written by Aaron Cooley and comes from Lionsgate. It doesn't yet have a premiere date.
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