The waffle party almost had an unexpected guest.
Ben Stiller, who executive-produces and directs many episodes of the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ drama “Severance,” has revealed that he invited former President Barack Obama to come on the show.
“There was one person that I asked before [Keanu Reeves], and he said no: President Barack Obama,” Stiller, 59, revealed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday night.
He said he sent the offer to the former POTUS through a friend who knows his lawyer.
“Two days later, I get an email back from President Barack Obama,” the “Zoolander” star said.
According to Stiller, the reply said, “Hey Ben, big fan of the show, love Season 1, can’t wait for Season 2. Don’t think I have time in my schedule to make this happen.”
“Severance,” which is now in its second season (with new episodes out on Fridays), is a sci-fi drama starring Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro and Britt Lower. The plot follows employees at Lumon, a mysterious and cultlike biotech company.
At the beginning of Season 2, their sinister manager, Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman), showed them an animated video called “Lumon Is Listening” to welcome them back to their jobs after some upheaval at the end of Season 1.
In the video, the Lumon building is animated and given a personality, and in the real Season 2 episode, Reeves does its “voice,” appearing in the show via an uncredited vocal cameo.
That would have been Obama’s voice if the former POTUS, 63, had accepted the role, according to Stiller.
“Severance” creator Dan Erickson told Collider, “We always wanted it to be somebody that people have certain associations with, but also, it had to be a very warm presence. The Lumon building is very friendly in the context of this video, and there’s a friendliness to that particular voice and a heart to that particular voice.”
On “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Stiller joked, “What’s more important than doing the voice-over for the animated building in ‘Severance’?”
He added about Obama, “It was pretty cool that he responded.”
