Viola Davis will play Michelle Obama in the series "First Ladies" Showtime – Variety



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It's fair to say that Viola Davis' next televised role will come with a lot of pressure.

The actress has signed to play former First Lady Michelle Obama in a series titled "First Ladies" which is in preparation at Showtime. The network has devoted three passages to the drama of an hour, with novelist Aaron Cooley writing and executive production.

The series will raise the curtain on the personal and political life of the first ladies in history, with a season 1 centered on Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama. The "First Ladies" will tackle the East Wing of the White House, unlike the West, where many of the most significant decisions in history that have changed the world have been overshadowed, taken by the first ladies charismatic, complex and dynamic of America. The series is from Showtime and Lionsgate Television.

Davis and his partner Julius Tennon are non-executive executive producers on the project via their JuVee Productions banner, alongside Cathy Schulman via Welle Entertainment, Jeff Gaspin via Gaspin Media and Brad Kaplan via LINK Entertainment.

Michelle Obama has already been featured in movies, but never on television. She was featured by Tika Sumpter in the 2016 photo "Southside With You".

The Obama's are making the jump in content production through their newest, Higher Ground Productions. Up to now, the company's original remains away from everything directly related to politics, with 'Bloom', a rising / falling drama series set in the fashion world to New York in the aftermath of World War II, and the adaptation of a feature film by author David W "Frederick Douglass: The Prophet of Freedom" Blight at the top of the list.

Davis's television schedule is expected to brighten at the start of 2020 as his five-year, six-year stint on "How to Get Rid of Murder" ends. Talk to Variety Summit on inclusion earlier this year, Davis discussed some of his upcoming projects with JuVee and how to prevent Hollywood from "dictating storytelling" to people of color.

"If you look at the past and the stories where there is a huge deficit of voice and presence, it's not a good starting point," she said. "What we need to fight for, and that's what I'm proud of with JuVee, is the autonomy in storytelling, production and everything. Do not tell me that the only way Viola can exist in history is if a white person leads the charge and I'm in the background. "

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