Happy first day, Mrs President

Geena Davis is determined to prove she has what it takes to become President.

Geena Davis is starting to wonder if she really is President. Since she won a Golden Globe for playing the first female leader of the US in Commander in Chief, she has fielded questions about her political aspirations and views, and whether she is in cahoots with Hillary Clinton.

Davis finds this hilarious. "Nobody created this show as a vehicle for any individual based on hidden agendas," she says. "But if it helps Americans get used to the idea, then that's great. Because we don't need just the first female president, we need to be regular candidates. Why the hell are we excluding women?"

Today Davis isn't exactly dressed for the Oval Office. She is wearing jeans, a blood-red satin shirt and stiletto heels that send her already towering frame an extra few centimetres into the sky.

When she enters the room she's like a pair of walking red lips, greeting whomever she approaches with that famous grin.

In Commander in Chief, Davis plays Mackenzie Allen, an independent selected for the vice-presidency as a "stunt" to get women on side. With the president on his deathbed and demanding her resignation, so begins the classic underdog story as Mackenzie says "stuff you lot" and proves she has what it takes to lead.

"If Moses had been a woman leading the Jews in the desert," her character explains in the pilot, "she'd have stopped and asked for directions. They would've been in Israel in a week."

Her first mission, to save a Nigerian woman condemned to death, is just as big a challenge as the one she faces at home. That includes telling her husband she doesn't want him to be her chief of staff, and dealing with a teenage daughter who wants her to resign.

It's not hard to see why Davis was cast in a role that demands credibility, authority and poise. Davis has always been suited to strong roles.

Throughout her 23-year career, her most memorable roles have included an oppressed woman who finds inner strength and freedom in Thelma & Louise, a kick-ass assassin in The Long Kiss Goodnight, and a quirky dog-trainer in The Accidental Tourist, for which she won an Oscar.

"It all makes sense to me that I've been able to play some unusual female characters, and strong female characters like in Thelma and Louise," she says. "I can rest happy with the fact that I have the opportunity to play such an incredible role. I'm thrilled."

Not everyone feels the same way, with some TV critics complaining the lead actress gives a wooden performance. "It takes a bit to warm to Davis," complained one scribe, possibly referring to her almost expressionless response to her detractors. When asked to resign, Mackenzie's face barely crumples. Davis says the subtleties are deliberate.

"One of the writers said that a president doesn't ever have to raise their voice. What gets said is heard and acted on. So there's a quiet authority you want to project in public, that nothing's going to throw you."

"[Geena] has a gravitas, she has weight," says executive producer Steven Bochco. "She has size - literally and figuratively. If she was four foot nine it might look goofy but she's a handsome, powerful woman who will look you in the eye.

"There's a warmth to her. She's caring, she's not overly political. I wouldn't cast Michael J. Fox as the president because he's a little guy. Geena has a presence."

Those who work with Davis are quick to point out her qualities go way beyond physical. Says acting legend Donald Sutherland, who plays Mackenzie's antagonist, Nathan Templeton, "If you talk to Geena you realise how extraordinarily intelligent she is."

But Davis doesn't shy away from the topic of beauty either, and is proud to call her character "tremendously sexy".

"Before we started, we had a lot of discussion about that, and the concept we all had was that there should be nothing about Mackenzie that sacrifices her femininity or attractiveness, to not downplay whatever inherent looks I might have, that she be as attractive as possible and unapologetic about that.

"She wears Gucci boots and Dolce & Gabbana suits and I think it's great that we can see somebody be that competent and powerful and not feel they have to sell out their female aspects to accomplish that."

At 50, Davis says she has reached an exciting age. "I don't want to get too philosophical but I feel more and more myself as time goes on. You feel stronger, more confident about yourself. You have more self-esteem."

That could come in handy should Mackenzie Allen ever be voted off-air. Commander in Chief is on a six-week hiatus in the US after a rocky start. In October, ABC gave the top job to Bochco (NYPD Blue, LA Law) after filming fell behind under series creator Rod Lurie, although Lurie has remained with the show.

But for now, Davis is happy to oversee more than just her onscreen responsibilities. A year ago she started a project called See Jane, which aims to get more female characters in TV shows and movies made specifically for kids.

"Girls' stories can be ignored. It just occurred to me that if from the beginning little children see a world where girls take up half the space in their cartoons and puppet shows and movies, it might have an impact someday."

Like Mackenzie, the issue of children has become a juggling act. With three children of her own under the age of 4 and long hours to contend with, spending quality family time is a daily struggle.

"If they didn't come to the set it would be impossible to see them because they're still asleep when I leave. They come to the set every day and visit. I'm just so grateful to be an actor because we get indulged.

"It's not like I'm the president of IBM but the kids come every day and they play in the Oval Office. And thank God. I don't know what I would do if I had a civilian job and three babies."

She's certainly not treated like a leader at home, she laughs before adding, "Feel free to treat me like the president. I can't wait."