Lexi Underwood To Play Malia Obama In Showtime Anthology Series ‘The First Lady’

Deadline is reporting that Lexi Underwood, breakout star of Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere, is set to portray Malia Obama opposite Viola Davis’ Michelle Obama and O-T Fagbenle’s Barack Obama in Showtime’s anthology series The First Lady, headlined by Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson. Davis executive produces the series, directed and executive produced by Susanne Bier and produced by Lionsgate TV and Showtime.

The First Lady, created by Aaron Cooley, is a revelatory reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House. Season 1 focuses on Eleanor Roosevelt (Anderson), Betty Ford (Pfeiffer) and Michelle Obama (Davis).

Underwood will recur as Malia Obama, Barack (Fagbenle) and Michelle Obama (Davis)’s oldest daughter, whose open mind and intelligence pushes her parents to make socially conscious decisions.

Cooley and Bier executive produce the series along with Davis, Julius Tennon and Andrew Wang via JuVee Productions, Cathy Schulman via her Welle Entertainment, Jeff Gaspin via Gaspin Media, Brad Kaplan via Link Entertainment.

Underwood co-starred as Pearl opposite Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon on the Hulu limited series Little Fires Everywhere, for which she is nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Other recent credits include Criminal Minds, Family Reunion, Walk the Plank, The Good Doctor and Will vs. the Future. Underwood made her Broadway debut at the age of 11 in the hugely popular production of The Lion King as Young Nala. She will next be seen starring as Kira in the upcoming feature film Sneakerella.