O.T. Fagbenle to play Barack Obama in Showtime anthology ‘The First Lady’

British actor O.T. Fagbenle will play former President Obama opposite Oscar winner Viola Davis’s Michelle Obama in Showtime’s anthology series “The First Lady,” Deadline reported Thursday.

Fagbenle has had an extensive television and theater career in the United Kingdom and has played the husband of the title character on Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” since 2017.

He is the second actor cast as the 44th president in a Showtime series in as many years, following Kingsley Ben-Adir, who played Obama in 2020’s “The Comey Rule.”

Previously announced casting for the series includes Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford, Aaron Eckhart as Gerald Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt. Its first season is set to follow the Roosevelt, Ford and Obama administrations through the eyes of their respective wives. Davis is also set to executive produce the series, which will be directed by Susanne Bier of “Bird Box” and AMC’s “The Night Manager.”