Michelle Pfeiffer Set To Bring Betty Ford To The Small Screen In ‘The First Lady’
Golden Globe-winning actress Michelle Pfeiffer looks to be adding yet another iconic role to her already impressive list of credits. As reported by Variety‘s Joe Otterson, the 62-year-old star of films like Batman Returns, Scarface and The Fabulous Baker Boys is set to bring Betty Ford — the wife of the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford — to the small screen in the forthcoming series, The First Lady.
Pfeiffer joins a cast that will also feature Emmy, Oscar and Tony-winning actress Viola Davis as Michelle Obama. Variety further reported that The Undoing director Susanne Bier has come to terms on a deal to direct and executive produce the anthology series, which is a joint production of Showtime and Lionsgate Television.
Amy Israel — Showtime’s executive vice president of Scripted Programming — spoke glowingly about the addition of both women to the project, which she says will bring the stories of multiple former first ladies “into urgent, engrossing and long overdue focus.”
“Michelle brings authenticity, vulnerability and complexity to all her roles, and Susanne is a visionary director who commands the screen with fierce honesty and a singular visual style. With these formidable artists in front of and behind the camera, we couldn’t be more thrilled – especially at this unique moment in time for our nation – about the powerful promise of ‘The First Lady.'”
The first season of the series will also explore Eleanor Roosevelt’s time in the East Wing. However, no announcement on who will be playing Roosevelt has been made as of this report.
As Ford, Pfeiffer will be portraying a woman who turned heads in the White House as a politically active presidential spouse for the duration of her husband’s two-and-a-half-year term. She was a vocal supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), an advocate for reproductive rights and a leader in the women’s rights movement at large. She also played a pivotal role in raising awareness about addiction in the 1970s, speaking openly about her own long-running battle with substance abuse.
After her husband left office, she continued to be an active force in the feminist movement. She also co-founded the Betty Ford Center — a treatment center for persons with substance dependence issues — in 1982.
Pfeiffer last graced screens in Azazel Jacobs’ French Exit, which debuted at the New York Film Festival in October 2020. It is currently slated for wide release in the U.S. next month.
The First Lady will be written and Aaron Cooley, who will also executive produce alongside Bier, Davis, JuVee Productions’ Julius Tennon and Andrew Wang, Cathy Schuman of Welle Entertainment, Gaspin Media’s Jeff Gaspin and Brad Kaplan of LINK Entertainment.
As shared by The Inquisitr, Pfeiffer broke hearts via Instagram last month with a photo update that showed her giving a sultry look to the camera while sporting a peek-a-boo blouse.
