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Alfre Woodard is headed for the Oval Office. She has been tapped to play President Roberta Payton in the upcoming drama “State of Affairs,” also starring Katherine Heigl.
Related: Confessions: Alfre Woodard
The show has been described as “Scandal meets The West Wing” and focuses on Charlie Whitney Tucker (Heigl), a CIA operative who is appointed as the president’s daily briefer, responsible for highlighting the nation’s most pressing issues. She is also the ex-girlfriend of the president’s late son.
While Black and female presidents are nothing new in the world of television and film, this is the first time that a Black woman will appear on-screen as the leader of the free world. Woodard is just the woman for the role, having appeared in Best Picture winner “12 Years A Slave”.
She also has four Emmy wins under her belt, and a collection of nominations in the double digits. Woodard will join a host of Black actors taking on lead roles this pilot season, including Viola Davis (“How To Get Away With Murder”), Jada Pinkett-Smith (“Gotham”), Octavia Spencer (“Red Band Society”), Romany Malco (“Keep It Together”), Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish“), Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard (“Empire”).
“State of Affairs” is set to air on NBC.
