Cate Blanchett. Rose Byrne. Sarah Paulson. Uzo Aduba. Elizabeth Banks. Margo Martindale. Tracey Ullman.
That is some series star power the new FX Original series 'Mrs America' has assembled; and it's coming to Foxtel's Fox Showcase later this month.
Based on real events set around the movement to ratify the American Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the 1970s and the strong opposition from a conservative woman named Phyllis Schlafly, played by Cate Blanchett (in her first US television role), 'Mrs America' explores one of the toughest battlegrounds in the culture wars of the 1970s which helped give rise to the Moral Majority and forever shifted the US political landscape.
Rose Byrne portrays feminist, journalist, and social political activist Glira Steinem, who became nationally recognised as a leader and a spokeswoman for the American feminist movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Sarah Paulson ('American Horror Story') plays Alice, a fictional character and Phyllis' best friend who joins her to block the ERA. Margo Martindale ('The Americans') plays Bella Abzug, a three-term US Congresswoman, trailblazer in the feminist movement and leader in the effort to pass the ERA.
Uzo Aduba ('Orange Is The New Black') plays Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American Congresswoman and, when she launched her unprecedented 1972 campaign, the first African-American candidate to run for President from a major political party.
Elizabeth Banks ('The Hunger Games') plays Jill Ruckelshaus, a pro-choice, socially progressive Republican who was appointed by President Ford to run a presidential commission to advance women’s rights and push for ratification of the ERA. She fought to keep the Republican Party from being taken over by the Religious Right.
Tracey Ullman plays Betty Friedan, the author of 'The Feminine Mystique' and founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus. She was an active proponent of the ERA.
The series also stars John Slattery, Ari Graynor, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Melanie Lynskey and Kayli Carter.
