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The First Lady

The First Lady

Showtime 2022

A revelatory reframing of American leadership through the lens of the First Ladies. Exploring everything from their journeys to Washington, family life, and world-changing political contributions, the impact of the White House's women is no longer hidden from view.
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The Top 10 Actors and Characters of The First Lady (Ranked Cast in 2024)

Aaron Eckhart

#1 - Aaron Eckhart (Cary (voice))

Aaron Edward Eckhart (born March 12, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at early age, when his father relocated the family. Several years later, he began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his high school senior year. He left high school without graduating, but earned a diploma through a professional education course, and graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in film. For much of the mid-1990s, he lived in New York City as a struggling, unemployed actor. As an undergraduate at BYU, Eckhart met director and writer Neil LaBute, who cast him in several of his own original plays. Five years later Eckhart made a debut as an unctuous, sociopathic ladies' man in LaBute's black comedy film In the Company of Men (1997). Under LaBute's guidance he worked in the director's films Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), Nurse Betty (2000), and Possession (2002). Eckhart gained wide recognition as George in Steven Soderbergh's critically acclaimed film Erin Brockovich (2000), and, in 2006, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Nick Naylor in Thank You for Smoking. He gained further mainstream breakout in 2008 when he starred in the blockbuster Batman film The Dark Knight as District Attorney Harvey Dent / Two-Face. Eckhart's other key roles include The Pledge (2001), The Core (2003), Paycheck (2003), Rabbit Hole (2010), Battle: Los Angeles (2011), Olympus Has Fallen (2013) and its sequel London Has Fallen (2016), I, Frankenstein (2014), Sully (2016), Midway (2019) and Line Of Duty (2019).

Aaron Eckhart plays as Cary (voice) in The First Lady.
Aaron Eckhart is the top #1 member of the cast and appears in 4 episodes.

Gillian Anderson

#2 - Gillian Anderson (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Gillian Leigh Anderson (born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. Her film work includes The House of Mirth (2000), The Mighty Celt (2005), The Last King of Scotland (2006), and two X-Files films, The X-Files (1998) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). Anderson was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Rosemary Anderson (nÊe Lane), a computer analyst, and Edward Anderson, who owned a film post-production company.Her father was of English descent, while her mother was of Irish and German ancestry. Soon after her birth, her family moved to Puerto Rico for 15 months; her family then moved to the United Kingdom where she lived until she was 11 years old. She lived for five years in Rosebery Gardens, Crouch End, London, and for 15 months in Albany Road, Stroud Green, London, so that her father could attend the London Film School. She was a pupil of Coleridge Primary School. When Anderson was 11 years old, her family moved again, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan. She attended Fountain Elementary and then City High-Middle School, a program for gifted students with a strong emphasis on the humanities; she graduated in 1986. Along with other actors (notably Linda Thorson and John Barrowman) Anderson is bidialectal. With her English accent and background, Anderson was mocked and felt out of place in the American Midwest and soon adopted a Midwest accent. To this day, her accent depends on her location — for instance, in an interview with Jay Leno she spoke in an American accent, but shifted it for an interview with Michael Parkinson. Anderson was interested in marine biology, but began acting her freshman year in high school productions, and later in community theater, and served as a student intern at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre & School of Theatre Arts. She attended The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago (formerly the Goodman School of Drama), where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990. She also participated in the National Theatre of Great Britain's summer program at Cornell University. Anderson's brother died in 2011 of a brain tumor, at the age of 30. Anderson married her first husband, Clyde Klotz, The X-Files series assistant art director, on New Year's Day, 1994, in Hawaii in a Buddhist ceremony. They had a daughter, Piper Maru (born September 1994), for whom Chris Carter named the X-Files episode of the same name, and divorced in 1997.] In December 2004, Anderson married Julian Ozanne, a documentary filmmaker, on Lamu Island, off the coast of Kenya. Anderson announced their separation on April 21, 2006. Anderson and former boyfriend, Mark Griffiths, have two sons: Oscar, born November 2006 and Felix, born October 2008. She ended their relationship in 2012. In March 2012, Anderson told Out magazine about her past relationship with a girl while in high school. In 1997, she was chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. Askmen listed her at No. 6 on their Top 7: '90s Sex Symbols. In 2008, she was listed 21st in FHM's All Time 100 Sexiest Hall of Fame.

Gillian Anderson plays as Eleanor Roosevelt in The First Lady.
Gillian Anderson is the top #2 member of the cast and appears in 3 episodes.

O.T. Fagbenle

#3 - O.T. Fagbenle (Barack Obama)

Born in London and raised across London, Spain, and Nigeria, Fagbenle was a world traveler at a young age. As a child, music was his passion and he played the saxophone in bands across Europe, performing at the Edinburgh Festival, Wembley Arena, the Royal Albert Hall, and even touring Spain. When he was 16 years old, Fagbenle landed his first proper role in a Nigerian adaptation of the William Shakespeare play Macbeth. Originally hired to play the saxophone, Fagbenle was also given several lines in the play, and he knew at that moment that acting was his calling. The director was so impressed by Fagbenle's work, by the second revival of the play he had secured the lead role. Fagbenle went on to attend the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating early in 2001 and joining alumni such as Sean Bean, Ralph Fiennes, and Anthony Hopkins. Theatre became his passion, as he appeared in dozens of plays across the UK, working in notable productions including the national tours of shows such as Ragamuffin, Romeo & Juliet [as Mercutio], and the West End debut of Porgy and Bess, the musical. Fagbenle was soon offered his first lead role for the stage, in John Guare's award winning play Six Degrees of Separation. His work was met by outstanding reviews, and a M.E.N. Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. While Fagbenle's career flourished on the theatre front, he also made his break into film and television. In 2006, Fagbenle made his feature film debut, appearing in The Weinstein Company's Breaking and Entering (2006) opposite Jude Law, Robin Wright, and Juliette Binoche. He was next seen in I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007) in 2007 alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Paul Rudd, and Saoirse Ronan. In 2008, he made his first appearance on US television, starring on NBC's Quarterlife (2007) playing John, a singer songwriter-- where Fagbenle was able pen and perform all the songs his character played on the show. 2008 also brought starring roles for Fagbenle in the UK; as he appeared in the critically acclaimed Walter's War (2008) as Walter Tull, a biopic of the first mixed heritage officer in the British Army, and Consuming Passion (2008) for the BBC. In 2010, Fagbenle took a leading role as Chris in the BBC One flagship show Material Girl (2010). He also starred in the television series Thorne: Sleepyhead (2010) and Thorne: Scaredycat (2010), adaptations of the Mark Billingham novels Sleepyhead and Scaredy Cat. Directed by 24 (2001) producer Stephen Hopkins, the six one hour episodes also starred Sandra Oh, and David Morrissey, and was sold to over 100 countries. 2010 also brought Fagbenle back to the states, where he starred opposite Tia and Tamera Mowry in the Lifetime movie Double Wedding (2010). In his down time, Fagbenle loves to go backpacking, play basketball, and volunteers at numerous schools, putting on free drama and music classes for kids.

O.T. Fagbenle plays as Barack Obama in The First Lady.
O.T. Fagbenle is the top #3 member of the cast and appears in 3 episodes.

Viola Davis

#4 - Viola Davis (Michelle Obama)

Viola Davis (born August 11, 1965) is an American actress. Known primarily as a stage actress, Davis won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and a Drama Desk Award for her role in King Hedley II (2001). She won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role in Fences. She won a second Drama Desk Award for Intimate Apparel (2004). Her films include Traffic (2000), Antwone Fisher (2002), and Solaris (2002). Her performance in Doubt (2008) was nominated for several awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. Description above from the Wikipedia article Viola Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Viola Davis plays as Michelle Obama in The First Lady.
Viola Davis is the top #4 member of the cast and appears in 3 episodes.

Michelle Pfeiffer

#5 - Michelle Pfeiffer (Betty Ford)

Michelle Marie Pfeiffer (born April 29, 1958) is an American actress and producer. She has received many accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, and three nominations for Academy Award. Pfeiffer began to pursue an acting career in 1978 and had her first leading role in the musical film Grease 2 (1982). Frustrated with being typecast as the token pretty girl, she actively pursued more serious material and had her breakthrough role as gangster moll Elvira Hancock in the crime film Scarface (1983). Further success came with leading roles in the fantasy feature The Witches of Eastwick (1987) and the comedy Married to the Mob (1988). Her roles in Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) garnered her two consecutive Academy Award nominations, for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress, respectively; her portrayal of lounge singer Susie Diamond in the latter is one of the most acclaimed of her career. Pfeiffer went on to star as Catwoman / Selina Kyle in Tim Burton's superhero film Batman Returns (1992), following which she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress and earned a third Academy Award nomination for playing a troubled housewife in Love Field (1992). She continued to gain praise for her performances in the dramas The Age of Innocence (1993) and White Oleander (2002), and the horror films Wolf (1994) and What Lies Beneath (2000). During this time, she also produced a series of films under her production company Via Rosa Productions. After a hiatus from acting in 2002, she returned with the musical Hairspray (2007). She received her first Emmy Award nomination for portraying Ruth Madoff in the HBO television film The Wizard of Lies (2017), she went on to feature in the ensemble films Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and debuted to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Janet Van Dyne starting Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). Description above from the Wikipedia article Michelle Pfeiffer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Michelle Pfeiffer plays as Betty Ford in The First Lady.
Michelle Pfeiffer is the top #5 member of the cast and appears in 3 episodes.

Saniyya Sidney

#6 - Saniyya Sidney (Sasha Obama)

Saniyya Sidney is an American actress. She is most known for her roles in the series American Horror Story: Roanoke, and the films Fences, Hidden Figures, and Fox's new vampire drama, The Passage. Wikipedia

Saniyya Sidney plays as Sasha Obama in The First Lady.
Saniyya Sidney is the top #6 member of the cast and appears in 3 episodes.

Lexi Underwood

#7 - Lexi Underwood (Malia Obama)

Lexi Underwood plays as Malia Obama in The First Lady.
Lexi Underwood is the top #7 member of the cast and appears in 3 episodes.

Eliza Scanlen

#8 - Eliza Scanlen (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Eliza Jane Scanlen (born January 6, 1999 in Sydney) is an Australian actress, best known for her breakout role in the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects (2018). Other films are Little Women (2019), Babyteeth (2019), The Devil All the Time (2020) and Old (2021).

Eliza Scanlen plays as Eleanor Roosevelt in The First Lady.
Eliza Scanlen is the top #8 member of the cast and appears in 3 episodes.

Kiefer Sutherland

#9 - Kiefer Sutherland (John Weir)

Kiefer Sutherland is a British-Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24. He has won an Emmy Award and Golden Globe award. He is the son of Canadian actors Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas.

Kiefer Sutherland plays as John Weir in The First Lady.
Kiefer Sutherland is the top #9 member of the cast and appears in 2 episodes.

Last updated: feb 08, 2023

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