Viola Davis Is Getting Absolutely Roasted Over Her Portrayal Of Michelle Obama

What happens when one beloved cultural icon is brought on to portray another beloved cultural icon on a prestige television show? Magic, right? Well... In the case of Viola Davis' depiction of former first lady Michelle Obama on Showtime's "The First Lady," not so much. Having someone like Davis, with all of her gravitas and unimpeachable acting skills, play one of the country's most revered first ladies seems like a no-brainer. But after the first episode of the show aired, fans on social media are finding her portrayal more unintentionally hilarious than deeply moving. 

"The First Lady" weaves together the stories of three iconic FLOTUSes, with Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt and Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford in addition to Davis as Obama. We're sure it's not easy to embody a character as instantly recognizable as Michelle Obama, but Davis seemed to overdo it on one of the first lady's facial tics in particular.

You may have noticed that sometimes Michelle Obama smiles with her lips closed and pursed in photographs. And social media noticed that in her portrayal of Obama on "The First Lady," Viola Davis took the lip-pursing to the next level. Many people on Twitter posted side-by-side photos of the real Obama pursing her lips with screenshots of Davis pursing her lips in "The First Lady," with comments like, "What Michelle does vs what Viola saw," and "Sure, Michelle purses her lips, but VIOLA??" Others posted joking photos of exhausted service workers with quips like, "Viola's top and bottom lip after they wrap up a scene," and "Viola's lips when they finished shooting the movie."

But this is the internet, after all, which means that not everybody was in agreement. Several took to Twitter to defend Davis. "Who'd have thought that Viola Davis would get dragged for her acting ?! The apocalypse is inching closer," tweeted one devoted fan. "Viola Davis does one questionable role and people acting like she's not a good actor," commented another. 

We'll leave it up to you to make your call.