The Real Women Behind Your Next TV Obsession, Mrs America

Cate Blanchett plays Phyllis Schlafly, a constitutional lawyer and self-described 'housewife-activist'. Schlafly is best known for her strict conservative social and political views. She vehemently opposed abortion rights and the feminist rights movement, and in the 1970s she founded the 'STOP ERA' campaign (STOP being an acronym for 'Stop Taking Our Privileges' against the Equal Rights Amendment in the US. Schlafly argued that the ERA, which proposes equal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex, would leave women without the privileges they already enjoyed, namely 'dependent wife' benefits and exemption from the military draft. Thanks to Schlafly's campaign, the ERA was completely ratified in 1977. Spoiler alert: it still hasn't been approved by US Congress.

Gloria Steinem, perhaps one of the best known feminist activists in the world, is portrayed by Rose Byrne. Steinem, who was infamous in the US in the 60s and 70s as a leader and speaker of the feminist movement, was brought to the limelight in 1969 after publishing an article titled 'After Black Power, Women's Liberation'. In 1970, she campaigned for the ERA, even testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 1971, she helped to found the National Women's Political Caucus, giving a speech called 'Address to the Women of America, in which she stated, 'This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy and visible differences have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labor on which this system still depends.'Steinem still travels internationally today to speak on behalf of women's rights.

Uzo Aduba stars as Shirley Chisholm, a political, academic and author. Chisholm became the first black women elected to the US Congress in 1968 and the first black candidate for a major party's nomination for President, as well as the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, in 1972. She was also the first woman to appear in a US presidential debate.In 2015, President Obama awarded Chisholm posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Tracey Ullman plays Betty Friedan, a feminist writer and activist, and a lead figure in the women's movement. In 1963, she wrote The Feminine Mystique, which is what lit the spark for the second wave of feminism in the US. She co-founded and became the president of the National Organisation for Women (NOW) in 1966 with the aim of bringing women 'into the mainstream of American society now in fully equal partnership with men.'In August 1970, after stepping down as NOW's president, Friedan led the Women's Strike for Equality on the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave US women the right to vote. The strike was an incredible success, with over 50,000 people participating.

Margo Martindale plays lawyer, US Representative, and activist Bella Abzug. Abzug joined the Women's Movement in 1971 to fight alongside Steinem, Chisholm and Friedan and help found the National Women's Political Caucus. Her first campaign slogan read 'This woman's place is in the House — the House of Representatives', a rallying call still used by feminists today.

Former special White House assistant and feminist activist Jill Ruckelshaus is played by Elizabeth Banks. Ruckelshaus was head of the White House Office of Women's Programs.

Sarah Paulson acts as Alice, a composite character. If the trailer is anything to go by, it looks as if Alice begins as a friend of Schlafly before coming to her senses and switching sides.