‘Severance’ Director Ben Stiller Says He Offered Barack Obama a Voiceover Role
In the second season of Severance, Keanu Reeves provides narration for an animated short film in the workplace thriller, but show director Ben Stiller says the John Wick star wasn’t his first choice. During a Monday episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Stiller admits he had a short casting list and considered former President Barack Obama as a choice for the voiceover role. Stiller knew his lawyer, he said, who passed his email request to the 44th president.
“I get an email back from President Barack Obama, saying, ‘Hey, Ben, big fan of the show, love Season One, can’t wait for Season Two. [I] don’t think I have time in my schedule to make this happen,'” Stiller said. “What’s more important than doing the voiceover for the animated building?”
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Despite the rejection, Stiller said he was still happy to get a response from Obama.
The Dan Erickson-created Severance centers around Lumon employees, played by Adam Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro, and Zach Cherry, who undergo a surgical procedure. The medical procedure, known as severance, separates the employees’ work selves, known as innies, from their personal selves, known as outties. In Episode One for the second season, the innies are shown a cartoonish video, detailing the “Macrodat Uprising” from Season One, and Reeves voices the anthropomorphic Lumon building.
Severance, which has gripped audience with its interpretation of work-life balance, has become Apple TV+’s most watched series, according to the streamer. It’s first season garnered 14 Emmy nominations, including Best Drama Series and Best Director, along with winning a Peabody Award. It’s second season returned in January after a three-year pause, script rewrites, and reshoots. Fans have nicknamed the series a “mystery box show,” a term Stiller said he had never heard of.
“They’re like, ‘So you’re making a mystery.’” Stiller told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m like, ‘Oh shit, I’m not prepared for this.’ But what I got out of that was that people don’t want to be led down a path or be messed with. With a show like this, there’s always that question, ‘Do they know where they’re going?’”
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