Cate Blanchett to star in TV series

Two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett has become the latest Hollywood celebrity to switch to TV, signing on to star in the new FX limited series “Mrs America.” Created and written by “Mad Men” co-producer Dahvi Waller, the nine-episode series will feature Blanchett as conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, who led the fight against the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

The ERA is a proposed amendment to the US Constitution stating that equal rights may not be denied on the basis of one’s sex. “Through the eyes of the women of that era -- both Schlafly and second wave feminists Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug and Jill Ruckelshaus -- the series explores how one of the toughest battlegrounds in the culture wars of the 70s helped give rise to the Moral Majority and forever shifted our political landscape,” FX said in a statement.

“I feel privileged to have this opportunity to collaborate with Dahvi, Stacey (Sher) and Coco (Francini) under the robust and fearless FX umbrella,” Blanchett said in a statement.