[MUSIC PLAYING]
The ERA will not solve your personal problems,
because you simply cannot legislate universal sympathy
for the middle-aged woman.
Once Cate Blanchett agrees to do your series,
it really opens things up with casting.
Who doesn't want to be a scene partner with her?
I'm not the expert in constitutional law.
Yeah, but you studied it in law school.
STACEY SHER: John Slattery said to me,
for as long as I've been doing this, just watching
Cate is like a master class.
She's always working.
JOHN SLATTERY: I'm just so impressed working with Cate
Blanchett, from the deep preparation she does, looking
at the video to working on the dialect
to the physical representation of Phyllis.
It's very tricky to play this woman,
who some people think doesn't deserve a second of their time.
And making her sympathetic is not an easy job.
I have raised six children.
They're almost all grown--
You are too old.
CATE BLANCHETT: I had a field day preparing for this
because I was so curious about a woman who
had so many contradictions and seemingly
sort of incompatible and contradictory
behaviors and points of view.
Well, virtuous women are rarely
accosted by unwelcome sexual propositions.
MELANIE LYNSKEY: Cate Blanchett, what
she's done with the character is so careful.
The deconstruction of Phyllis's character
is one of the greatest things I've had the pleasure
of witnessing performance-wise.
If we're going to catch up with the libbers,
we're going to need to grow fast,
and my name gives us instant political recognition.
Through research, every day I'd find out something
new and surprising about her.
You are not really a housewife.
You are a full-time lobbyist working to defeat the ERA.
No, well, I don't work for anyone.
CATE BLANCHETT: I basically watched every single interview
she ever gave.
And she gave a lot of them.
Then you have to, in a way, put that aside and play what Darby
has so brilliantly written.
Well, would you rather be ruled by a wise Turk
or a foolish Christian?
You know, we're very used to seeing male antiheroes in film
and television, but there aren't many examples of shows
with female antiheroes.
So it's particularly challenging with a female who,
for some people, is not very likeable to find
what's human in them.
Why'd God put this fire in me if he
didn't want me to act on it?
She's gone behind the known version of Phyllis.
So who was the person with his partner,
with his closest allies when nothing
was being written about them?
JOHN SLATTERY: There was a push/pull
between Phyllis and Fred.
Though Fred saw in Phyllis the intellect
and the power and the commitment,
at that period of time, wasn't ready to give up the mantle
of the head of the family.
Did the law protect your mother?
Stop it.
Who took her privileges away?
I said stop it.
You're just trying to make me emotional.
See, that's how you win a debate.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
TRACEY ULLMAN: We know so much about male politics,
Nixon and Reagan and Carter.
And those stories have been told.
This is the other side of it, especially for the Republican
women like Phyllis Schlafly.
CATE BLANCHETT: Everything about her-- the way she
lived her life, her worldview--
it was all about preservation, rather than embracing change.
And that's part of the excitement
for me, to discover who someone is
and the impact that they had.
TRACEY ULLMAN: This is their side of the story.
It's never been told.
When I say Phyllis Schlafly, people are like, who?
Well, now they're going to really
know, because Cate Blanchett is just extraordinary.
Now, you and I both know that the ERA is not about equality.
It's about power.
[MUSIC PLAYING]