Viola Davis’ portrayal of Michelle Obama for a new program is earning some early praise, as well as some early criticism, for an apparent character choice she made.
The Showtime series “The First Lady” premieres on Sunday, and it appears that some fans on Twitter have already seen Viola as Michelle… and are wondering why the actress appears to repeatedly purse her lips on camera.
pic.twitter.com/hywUW3Gjhw
— paul (@paulswhtn) April 17, 2022
One sequence, in particular, has gotten a lot of attention, and fans are making memes and jokes about Viola continuously putting on an excessive duck face while talking to TV Barack Obama.
Another scene has appeared in which Viola-as-Michelle is preparing for a photoshoot, and she appears to be rocking the kissy position with commitment there as well.
this zoom 😭😭😭 https://t.co/ykYA16l9bH pic.twitter.com/0SvTU00VI9
While it’s unclear if Viola keeps this expression throughout the program (to our knowledge, these are the only two sequences that have made the rounds thus far), it appears she does use the lip move later in the series, as proven by stills Viola has shared on social media in recent weeks.
Michelle does purse her lips at times… but it seems Viola may have mistakenly assumed it’s core to her personality because it appears she does it a lot for ‘TFL.’
Father GOD pic.twitter.com/ff8ybgZPZB
— kyle (@blkboybulletin) April 15, 2022
In terms of how the critics think about it, it’s not looking good. “The First Lady” has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 40%, based on the opinions of 20 separate critics. These critiques aren’t usually indicative of a film’s or show’s quality, but it appears that the industry isn’t happy with how Michelle’s tale was told here.
As previously said, the concert began streaming today, so you can check it out for yourself. This performance will run for ten episodes, so maybe it will get… better? We’ll have to wait and see.
Viola was taking this position seriously, unlike what some people on the internet may think now that it’s out, and she even admitted to being worried and wanting to make MO look good.
VD was cited in February as saying “You don’t want to insult them by your portrayal … As much as we feel like we know Michelle Obama — and I did everything I could to research — there are those private moments where there’s some level of creative decision-making that you have to take … There are small minutiae that I can just take creative license with and hope that I’m not insulting her with it. That’s what you have to navigate as an artist.”
