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Award-winning actress Viola Davis has graced screens with her role as former first lady Michelle Obama in the anthology series The First Lady. Though fans were thrilled for another noteworthy performance, netizens blasted the actress on social media for her pursed lips.
A video clip of the show has gone viral on social media, where the 56-year-old actress playing Michelle Obama argues with O-T Fagbenle, who plays former President Barack Obama. Internet users could not help but notice that Viola Davis had pursed her lips unnaturally throughout the scene.
Another clip of the actress has also gone viral. Davis, who plays Michelle, can be seen getting photographed as the camera zooms into the actress' pouted face.
Internet has a field day with Viola Davis' Michelle Obama interpretation
After the show was released and clips of the series began being discussed online, internet trolls endlessly criticized the How To Get Away With Murder actress' pursed lips.
It seems like the Tony Award-winning actress did not leave the smallest detail behind while portraying the former First Lady in the biopic.
Reacting to Viola Davis' pressed lips in the series, a few tweets read:
It remains unclear whether the actress will purse her lips throughout the show. In real life, Michelle Obama has been caught with pouted lips at times, however, Viola Davis' interpretation of the same comes across as unnatural.
So far, the television series has not received the best ratings either. The First Lady has a score of only 40% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Viola Davis speaks about her role in The First Lady
During the show's CTAM panel in February, Davis opened up about the pressure to act as Michelle in the best way possible. She said:
"It keeps me up at night. You don’t want to insult them by your portrayal.”
Deadline reported that the actress was able to speak to Michelle Obama herself. However, Davis refused to spill any details about the same:
"It’s more important for me that I protect the privacy of [Michelle] than to promote a TV show."
She revealed during the CTAM panel that she allowed herself to take some creative liberty during the shoot as the show's production was unaware of how to portray Michelle Obama's mannerisms in her most intimate moments. Davis said on the panel:
"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. I don’t know how she lays in bed with Barack or how she disciplines her children. There are small minutiae that I can just take creative license with and hope that I’m not insulting her with it."
Fans can watch The First Lady series on Showtime. The show premiered on April 17 and continues to gather a large viewership.
