Clea DuVall (Veep) and Charlie Plummer (All the Money in the World) are set for key recurring roles in Showtime’s upcoming anthology series The First Lady, starring Viola Davis — who also executive produces — Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson. Cathy Schulman serves as showrunner. Susanne Bier (The Undoing) will direct and executive produce.
Created by Aaron Cooley and produced by Lionsgate TV and Showtime, The First Lady is a revelatory reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House. Season 1 focuses on Eleanor Roosevelt (Anderson), Betty Ford (Pfeiffer) and Michelle Obama (Davis).
DuVall will play Malvina “Tommy” Thompson: Eleanor Roosevelt’s trusted assistant, secretary, traveling companion, gatekeeper and dear friend. Irreverent, funny, and a shrewd judge of character, Tommy was utterly devoted to Eleanor and together they trailblazed women’s advocacy, taking no prisoners as they went.
Plummer will play young Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Born into a famously patrician American family, Franklin quickly shed all that in the New York Senate for a life of service to his country. He married Eleanor in 1905, and though he was stricken by polio in 1921, his youthful resilience and vitality predicted great political success.
Series also stars Kiefer Sutherland as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Aaron Eckhart as President Gerald Ford, O-T Fagbenle as President Barack Obama and Dakota Fanning as Susan Elizabeth Ford.
Produced by Showtime and Lionsgate Television, The First Lady is executive produced by Schulman, Davis, Julius Tennon, Andrew Wang, Bier, Jeff Gaspin and Brad Kaplan. Cooley will write several of the episodes and executive produce.
DuVall, known for her on-camera roles in Veep, The Handmaid’s Tale and Argo among others, co-created, executive produces and voices Elsa in the Fox animated comedy series Housebroken. She recently directed and co-wrote the holiday comedy Happiest Season. She also is the co-creator and executive producer of the upcoming IMDb TV series High School. She will write and direct multiple episodes of the show as well. DuVall is repped by UTA and attorney Lev Ginsburg.
Plummer earned a Marcello Mastroianni Award and a British Independent Film Awards nomination for his performance in 2017’s Lean on Pete. His other film and TV credits include Granite Flats, All the Money in the World, Looking for Alaska, among others. Most recently, he starred in Spontaneous and Words on Bathroom Walls, and he will be seen next year in Moonfall. Plummer is repped by Luber Roklin Entertainment, Zoom Talent Management, CAA and Peikoff Mahan Law Office.
