Viola Davis Says There’s Nothing Secondary About THE FIRST LADY, as She Wrestles With The Risky Role of Michelle Obama

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede The old saying that “timing is everything” applies directly to Viola Davis’ role as Michelle Obama in SHOWTIME’s THE FIRST LADY, which debuts Sunday, April 17 on Crave. Also starring Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford, the series jumps back and forth between three eras. But of those three, only the Obama era is fresh in the public mind today, and Davis was very aware of that fact when wrapping her brain around the risky role. “I was terrified – I’m not going to lie, I was absolutely terrified,” admitted Davis, who is an OSCAR® and EMMY® award winner. Of course, being terrified is a large part of entering the fishbowl of the White House, whether it’s the 1930s (Roosevelt), the 1970s (Ford), or the 2000s (Obama). So there was definitely instant relatability at play for Davis. THE FIRST LADY, which is designed to be an anthology series, examines and reframes the history of American leadership by delving deeply into the First Ladies’ personal and political lives, exploring their families, their journeys to Washington, and their often-overlooked world-changing contributions. “I felt a great deal of fear, because (Michelle Obama) is very much alive, and she is someone who’s very, very, very loved and adored,” Davis said. “Michelle Obama said something during her book tour, which was, ‘I can’t just say anything I want to say. If I give my opinion, it could shift the way a nation sees us. It could cause a policy or a bill to be killed on the floor.’ And I felt that same sort of restriction (in the role). We couldn’t just put anything on the page, because the repercussions of that would reverberate, much more than Eleanor and Betty’s time periods.” But THE FIRST LADY is a drama, not a documentary, so Davis and the writers had to seek out areas that could be illuminated. “This is absolutely about people, because that’s what we do – otherwise, you can watch a documentary or read a book,” Davis said. “I always say, with the keepers of history, it’s very interesting that you can get the facts, but not all the personal information behind the facts. Filling it in becomes very, very difficult, because you can’t just make it up. Or, you can make it up, but in my case there would be repercussions if we make it up (laughs). I felt that to be the most challenging part of it. Because as actors, the big thing is being private in public.” Davis added, “The private moments of Michelle and Barack, I think those were the hardest to excavate, or to even put on the page, because they’re so recent. I mean, I don’t know how she lays in bed with Barack. I don’t know how she would discipline her children. There’s just small minutiae that I can take creative licence with, and hope that I’m not insulting her with it.” Notwithstanding the issues of portraying Michelle Obama specifically, Davis feels there is commonality between the trio of First Ladies in Season 1 of THE FIRST LADY. “I think all three of them refused to be the woman behind the man,” Davis said. “It could have been a role that was like, four years, eight years, 12 years, you just sort of ride it out in the shadows. But how do you have your own agency? How do you get autonomy? How do you set up boundaries? How do you not mess it up for your husband? How do you honour yourself? I think with Eleanor, Betty, and Michelle, they figured it out. They figured out this space. I think all three of them would be considered liberated women.” By the way, has Viola Davis ever met Michelle Obama? “Yes, I have met Michelle Obama, and I’m always struck by things in other people that sometimes I don’t see in myself,” Davis said. “What struck me about her is, first of all, her height! But also, I don’t want to say confidence, because that’s almost reductive, but her sense of worth, her sense of belonging, that seemed like a rooted oak tree. There was nothing about her that felt secondary. She absolutely seemed like a person that has a sense of self, an absolute surety that she is somebody, that Barack doesn’t make her someone. She was someone from the moment she came out of her mom’s womb.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv