Michelle Obama reacts to Viola Davis’ viral “First Lady” portrayal

Key Points

• Michelle Obama says she has not watched Showtime’s The First Lady, in which Viola Davis portrays the former first lady.

• “That’s the one thing I can’t do,” Obama said of attempting to watch the period drama.

• Following the show’s premiere in April 2022, Davis responded to criticism over her portrayal, saying it was “incredibly hurtful.”

Michelle Obama has finally addressed Viola Davis‘ portrayal of her in Showtime’s The First Lady.

While a guest on a recent episode of the Baby, This is Keke Palmer podcast, the former first lady explained how she would prep for mainstream media interviews, often telling her team an answer she’d prefer to give before planning the official response. Host Keke Palmer said that the process reminded her of a scene from The First Lady.

“I didn’t watch that,” Obama told Palmer, adding, “That’s the one thing I can’t do.”

After Palmer laughed at Obama’s response, the two shared their appreciation for the Oscar, Tony, and Emmy-winning actress. Obama added that she’d also love to speak with Davis, saying, “We can talk about that scene, and then I’ll watch it.”

While Palmer and Obama didn’t specify the scene specifically, a particular exchange in the period drama between Davis and costar O-T Fagbenle, who played Barack Obama, went viral when it first aired in 2022. In the scene, Michelle has learned about death threats against her family. Davis’ exaggerated facial expressions, such as her pursed lips and raised eyebrows, were widely criticized on social media.

Responding to the criticism in an interview with BBC News, Davis said it is “incredibly hurtful when people say negative things about your work” while acknowledging criticism in her profession is an “occupational hazard.”

“How do you move on from the hurt, from failure?” Davis questioned. “But you have to. Not everything is going to be an awards-worthy performance.”

Davis continued by slamming critics, saying they “serve no purpose.”

“And I’m not saying that to be nasty either,” she continued. “They always feel like they’re telling you something that you don’t know. Somehow that you’re living a life that you’re surrounded by people who lie to you and ‘I’m going to be the person that leans in and tells you the truth’. So it gives them an opportunity to be cruel to you. But ultimately I feel like it is my job as a leader to make bold choices,” she shared. “Win or fail it is my duty to do that.”

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The First Lady reframes American history through the perspective of three presidential spouses — Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson), Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Michelle Obama (Viola Davis). The series was canceled in August 2022 after just one season.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly ahead of the series premiere, Davis admitted feeling a little overwhelmed with the magnitude of who she was portraying.

“My first day was a scene where we arrived at the White House and we drove up and we walked in and there was me, Viola, in the back going, ‘Holy s—‘ at just the shift and the change and the enormity of it all,” Davis said. “It was a good introduction into Michelle and Barack’s administration.”

“It definitely is not like any other job, because we’re playing iconic characters that people have ownership of, people know,” Davis continued. “I mean, with Michelle Obama anyway, they know how she talks, how she walks, how she wears her hair, the different incarnations of her eyebrows … I didn’t feel like I could approach it like any other character.”

Watch Michelle Obama’s interview on Baby, This is Keke Palmer above.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly