LOS ANGELES -- “The First Lady” presents three influential women, three acclaimed actors playing them, and a century of history encompassing wars, presidential scandal and America's stubborn gender and race fault lines.The ambitious Showtime drama series proved an irresistible challenge for Oscar-winning director Susanne Bier. While its subjects — Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama — each have a “compelling and gripping" story, the sum is even greater, Bier said of her first biographical project.“It was interesting to me that it wasn't one biopic,” Bier said in an interview.