Comparing The Cast Of "The First Lady" With Their Real-Life CounterParts

The show highlights the lives of three first ladies.

May

• Published in Film & TV
• May 7, 2022

When you think about the White House, perhaps the first thing you'll remember is the president. Perhaps the Oval Office will also come to mind.

If you watched Showtime's anthology series, The First Lady, you will also remember the women who walked along its hallways when their husbands were the incumbent president. The drama series centers on three of those women who made an impact using their Office of the First Lady of the United States.

Michelle Obama is played by Viola Davis, Betty Ford is played by Michelle Pfeiffer, and Eleanor Roosevelt is played by Gillian Anderson. The drama series takes viewers behind the scenes inside the White House executive mansion. It gives us an idea of how important these women were in molding American culture and how being a first lady impacted their lives.

In addition to Davis, Pfeiffer, and Anderson, the show will star renowned Hollywood actors, including Dakota Fanning as Susan Elizabeth Ford, Kiefer Sutherland as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Lily Rabe as Lorena Hickock, O-T Fagbenle as Barack Obama, and more.

According to the entertainment news site Deadline, the show is so intimate, that it's almost like we could hear the White House walls talking. See the pictures below to compare the actors and their real-life counterparts.

Through the eyes of these three women, the show examines the events of their respective husbands' administrations.

A photo of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Kiefer Sutherland taking the role of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt in real life

Gillian Anderson is Eleanor Roosevelt. She has now played a prominent historical character for the second time recently with this series.

Laura Bush in real life.

Kathleen Garrett plays Laura Bush in Showtime's drama series.

Michelle Obama in real life.

Viola Davis plays Michelle Obama in the series.

Davis reportedly was pressured playing Obama because hers is the only character who is still alive today.

President Barack Obama

O-T Fagbenle plays Barack Obama in the show.

Gerald Ford

This is Aaron Eckhart as Gerald Ford

This is the real Betty Ford

Michelle Pfeiffer playing Betty Ford in the series.

According to Pfeiffer, she will never take on a role of a real person again.

It's just, it's very, very weighty. And it's with you all the time.

Susan Ford in real life.

Dakota Fanning taking the role of Susan Ford.

Donald H. Rumsfeld

Derek Cecil plays Donald H. Rumsfeld in The First Lady

Dick Cheney in real life.

This is Rhys Wakefield as Dick Cheney.

The First Lady is a 10-episode drama series by Aaron Cooley and executive produced by Cathy Schulman.

The show, which premiered on April 17, 2022, is an impressive reimagining of American leadership portrayed through the eyes of the presidents' respective wives. It is set in the East Wing.

Viewers will witness the history's groundbreaking and consequential decisions, which were made by America's charismatic first ladies behind closed doors. The first season followers three enigmatic women, remembering their life as a president's wife in Washington.

What do you think of the performance of the three women highlighted by the show?

May