Cate Blanchett Signs on for FX’s Mrs. America

Two-time Academy Award- and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Cate Blanchett is attached to star in Mrs. America, a new limited series ordered by FX.

Created and written by Emmy Award-winning writer Dahvi Waller (Mad Men), Mrs. America tells the true story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and the unexpected backlash led by a conservative woman named Phyllis Schlafly (Blanchett). Production of the nine-episode limited series is scheduled for 2019.

Mrs. America will mark Blanchett’s first role for U.S. television.

“Cate Blanchett is one the great actors of our time—and we are truly honored to have her star in Mrs. America,” said John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions. “We have no doubt that Cate is the perfect actor to play the role of Phyllis Schlafly, who was one of the most polarizing and fascinatingly complex figures of the ’70s for her opposition to and role in defeating the Equal Rights Amendment, which to this day has never been ratified. Dahvi Waller’s scripts are extraordinary, and I’m thrilled to reunite with my former Jersey TV partner Stacey Sher, and commend her on assembling such a dynamic foursome of gifted, female, artist-producers to take on this timely story.”

“I feel privileged to have this opportunity to collaborate with Dahvi, Stacey and Coco under the robust and fearless FX umbrella,” said Blanchett. “I am extremely excited about delving into the material as there couldn’t be a more appropriate time to peel back the layers of this recent period of history, which couldn’t be more relevant today.”

Waller said, “It is a thrill to have the extraordinary Cate Blanchett bring this controversial woman to life, and I can’t think of a better network for this bold series than FX.”