Michelle Obama Reacts To Viola Davis’ Performance In The First Lady

Michelle Obama is finally addressing Viola Davis’ infamous portrayal of her in the 2022 US drama The First Lady.

The topic came up during Obama’s appearance on the podcast Baby, This is Keke Palmer, when she described the ways she used to prepare for media interviews.

Speaking to the Nope star, the former first lady explained that she and her team would sometimes rehearse the response she really wanted to give to journalists’ questions, before deciding on a more polished answer that she joked wouldn’t “shut down the presidency”.

Host Keke Palmer then said Obama’s approach reminded her of a scene featuring Viola Davis in The First Lady.

“Oh yeah, I didn’t watch that,” her guest replied with a laugh. “That’s the one thing I can’t do.”

Obama added that she loves Davis as an actor, and would be interested in speaking with her, possibly on her IMO podcast.

“We can talk about that scene,” Obama joked. “Then I’ll watch it.”

Neither Obama nor Palmer specified which scene they meant, though it was likely the viral moment between the Oscar winner and her co-star O-T Fagbenle (who portrayed Barack Obama), in which Davis’ character warns her husband about the dangers of running for president as a Black man – and at one point uses racial slurs, including the N-word.

In that scene, Davis used exaggerated facial expressions and pursed lips in her portrayal of the former first lady, which quickly sparked backlash on social media.

Davis addressed viewers’ reactions in a 2022 interview with the BBC, admitting she finds it “incredibly hurtful when people say negative things about your work”.

Referring to criticism as an “occupational hazard” of acting, the EGOT recipient reflected: “How do you move on from the hurt, from failure? But you have to. Not everything is going to be an awards-worthy performance.”

She added: “Critics absolutely serve no purpose. And I’m not saying that to be nasty either. They always feel like they’re telling you something that you don’t know … 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.”

Ultimately, Davis concluded, “I feel like it is my job as a leader to make bold choices. Win or fail, it is my duty to do that.”

Davis appeared in The First Lady alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson, who portrayed Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt, respectively.

The cast also included Kiefer Sutherland as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Aaron Eckhart as Gerald Ford.