Kiefer Sutherland Joins ‘The First Lady’ as Franklin D. Roosevelt

Kiefer Sutherland will play a president again in the upcoming Showtime historical drama The First Lady, although this time he will play a real president. The series focuses on three very different First Ladies. As President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sutherland will share scenes with The Crown star Gillian Anderson, who was previously cast as Eleanor Roosevelt. Sutherland was last seen as the fictional President Thomas Kirkman in Designated Survivor.

The First Lady will provide viewers with a rare look at three different administrations through the perspectives of the First Ladies. In Season 1, viewers will see what life was like for Michelle Obama, Betty Ford, and Eleanor Roosevelt when their husbands were in the Oval Office. Viola Davis, who serves as one of the show’s executive producers, was cast as Obama, whose husband, President Barack Obama, served in the White House from 2009 to 2016. Michelle Pfeiffer was cast as Betty Ford, President Gerald Ford’s wife who set a precedent for First Ladies to be more politically active. Sutherland’s casting was reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

Aaron Eckhart was previously cast as President Ford. Jayme Lawson will play a young Obama, while Kristine Froseth was cast as a young Ford. Rhys Wakefield will play Vice President Dick Cheney, who was President Ford’s Deputy Chief of Staff. Author Aaron Cooley (Four Seats: A Thriller of the Supreme Court) created the series and wrote the scripts. Julius Tennon, Cathy Schulman, Jeff Faspin, Brad Kaplan, and Cooley are executive producers. Schulman serves as the showrunner. Susanne Bier, who directed HBO’s The Undoing and AMC’s The Night Manager, will direct all episodes of Season 1.

Sutherland won an Emmy for playing Jack Bauer on the Fox series 24 in 2006 and won a second Emmy that same year when the show won the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy. After the show’s initial run ended in 2010, Sutherland returned to the franchise for the 2014 miniseries 24: Live Another Day. He starred as Thomas Kirkman on the ABC/Netflix series Designated Survivor from 2016 to 2019.

Last year, Sutherland starred in The Fugitive, inspired by the original series and the Harrison Ford movie. The series debuted on the now-defunct Quibi platform but is now available for free on the Roku Channel. Sutherland’s next film, Violence of Action starring Chris Pine, opens on Dec. 10.

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