🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Mrs. America has released its first three episodes on Hulu, meaning viewers have seen most of the lead cast of the historical drama. Cate Blanchett leads the cast as Phyllis Schlafly, a 1970s conservative commentator and one of the leading voices against the Equal Rights Amendment. Against her are a number of well-known actors playing some of the most famous feminist voices of all time, including Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem, Tracey Ullman as Betty Friedan and Uzo Aduba as Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to launch a major bid for the presidency.
mrs america cast cate blanchett phyllis schlafly
Cate Blanchett - Phyllis Schlafly
Leading the cast of Mrs. America is two-time Oscar winner (for The Aviator and Blue Jasmine) Cate Blanchett. She plays Phyllis Schlafly, the author and notable advocate against feminism, abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. In Mrs. America, we meet Schlafly after she loses her campaign to enter Congress and begins to make a name for herself by speaking against the Equal Rights Amendment.
Rose Byrne - Gloria Steinem
Rose Byrne of Spy and Bridesmaids portrays Gloria Steinem, the feminist leader and co-founder of Ms. magazine. Beginning life as a journalist, she came to prominence as a feminist campaigner in 1969, and testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1970. The following year, she was a co-founder of the National Woman's Political Committee alongside a number of other real-life people portrayed in Mrs. America.
Uzo Aduba - Shirley Chisholm
The first black woman elected into Congress, Shirley Chisholm served seven terms in the House of Representatives. Her 1972 campaign for the president made her the first woman Democrat to run for the executive office and the first black candidate from a major party. Playing her in the Hulu drama is Uzo Aduba, who came to prominence in her Emmy-winning role as Suzanne Warren in Orange is the New Black.
Tracey Ullman - Betty Friedan
Though mostly known for comedy, Tracey Ullman takes a more dramatic role in Mrs. America. Betty Friedan is best known as the author of The Feminine Mystique, the book thought by many to be the text that sparked the feminist movement of the '60s. Among her achievements were the founding of the National Organization for Women and the organizing of the Women's Strike for Equality in 1970.
Elizabeth Banks - Jill Ruckelshaus
A less well-known historical figure who appears in the drama is Jill Ruckelshaus, played by 30 Rock star and Pitch Perfect 2 director Elizabeth Bank. Ruckelshaus was a White House assistant who once headed the White House Office of Women's Programs and served as commissioner for the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Margo Martindale - Bella Abzug
Joining Chisholm representing New York in the House of Representatives was Bella Abzug. In some ways the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of her day, Abzug defeated a 14-year incumbent Congressman in a 1970 Democratic primary before being elected to office with the memorable slogan "This woman's place is in the House—the House of Representatives." Bringing her to life in Mrs. America is Margo Martindale, the character actress and three-time Emmy winner for The Americans and Justified.
John Slattery - Fred Schlafly
In the role of Phylis' husband Fred Schlafly is Mad Men star John Slattery. Fred was an independently wealthy Catholic lawyer who we see in Mrs. America bankrolling much of his wife's early campaigning.
James Marsden - Phil Crane
Republican Phil Crane served Illinois districts in the House of Representatives from 1969, at which time he took Donald Rumsfeld seat when he joined the Nixon administration, to 2005. He unsuccessfully ran in the Republican presidential primaries in 1980. In Mrs. America, James Marsden of Westworld and the original X-Men trilogy plays the Conservative firebrand.
Mrs. America is streaming now on Hulu.
