FX has released new images for the limited series, Mrs. America, including the first look at Insecure’s Jay Ellis as Frank Thomas. Spanning nine episodes, the series will debut April 15 on Disney’s FX on Hulu.
As Gloria Steinem’s romantic interest, Frank Thomas was an accomplished lawyer, charismatic community leader, and divorced father of four, who served as President of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation during the 1970s. He was also president and CEO of the Ford Foundation from 1979 until 1996.
Mrs. America tells the story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and the unexpected backlash led by a conservative woman named Phyllis Schlafly, aka “the sweetheart of the silent majority.” Through the eyes of the women of the era – both Schlafly and second wave feminists Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug and Jill Ruckelshaus – the series explores how one of the toughest battlegrounds in the culture wars of the 1970s helped give rise to the Moral Majority and forever shifted the political landscape.
Mrs. America features an all-star team in front of and behind the cameras. Two-time Academy Award® and Golden Globe® Award winner Cate Blanchett headlines as Phyllis Schlafly, leading a stellar cast portraying some of the most iconic women of the era, including Emmy Award nominated Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem, Emmy Award winner Margo Martindale as Bella Abzug, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Uzo Aduba as Shirley Chisholm,
Emmy Award nominated Elizabeth Banks as Jill Ruckelshaus, Emmy Award nominated Niecy Nash as Flo Kennedy,and Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Tracey Ullman as Betty Friedan. The cast also boasts Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Sarah Paulson as Alice Macray, Emmy Award nominated John Slattery, Emmy Award nominated Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ari Graynor, Melanie Lynskey as Rosemany Thomson, James Marsden, Brie Henderson, Jay Ellis and Kayli Carter.
Executive Producers are Emmy Award winner Dahvi Waller, who serves as creator and showrunner, Academy Award nominated Stacey Sher, Coco Francini, Cate Blanchett and Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, who directed four of the nine episodes, including the first two. Amma Asante, Janizca Bravo and
Aduba (Orange Is the New Black) as Shirley Chisholm, who made history as the first African-American congresswoman. She also became the first African-American candidate to run for president from a national political party when she launched her unprecedented campaign in 1972.
John Slattery (Mad Men) as Fred Schlafly, Phyllis’ anti-Communist husband who was a prominent lawyer and GOP donor
Rose Byrne (Damages) as Gloria Steinem, the most recognizable leader of the women’s movement, who co-founded the magazine Ms. and played a major part in the effort to pass the ERA
Margo Martindale (The Americans) as Bella Abzug, a three-term congresswoman who spearheaded the effort to pass the ERA
Ari Graynor (I’m Dying Up Here) as Brenda Feigen-Fasteau, a Harvard-educated lawyer and young feminist who co-founded Ms. with Steinem
Melanie Lynskey (Castle Rock) as Rosemary Thomson, a homemaker in Schlafley’s inner circle who eagerly joined her fight against the ERA
Tracey Ullman (The Tracey Ullman Show) as Betty Friedan, known as the mother of the women’s movement. An active proponent of the ERA, Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique and co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus.
Jeanne Tripplehorn (Criminal Minds) as Eleanor Schlafly, Fred’s unmarried sister and a close confidant of Phyllis, who is also a devoted aunt to Phyllis’ six children
Kayli Carter (Godless) as Pamela, a young and impressionable (and fictional) housewife who is an early member of Phyllis’ anti-ERA movement.
Nash will portray Flo Kennedy, friend and confidant to Gloria Steinem and Shirley Chisholm, who co-created the Black Feminist Organization from salon style meetings in her apartment.
Marsden (Westworld) as Phil Crane, a conservative congressman from Phyllis’ home state of Illinois and one of her most powerful allies
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