Ben Stiller Tried To Get Barack Obama For ‘Severance’ Role That Went To Keanu Reeves

Ben Stiller says he originally wanted former President Barack Obama for a small role in his hit Apple TV+ series “Severance,” but the part ultimately went to Keanu Reeves.

Stiller, 59, revealed during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday night that Reeves, 60, was not his first choice to provide voiceover narration for a “Lumon is Listening” corporate video viewed by the Macrodata Refiners in season 2 of the series — he wanted Obama.

“I didn’t ask him in person, I knew someone who knew his lawyer and his lawyer said I can relay the request if you write an email,” said Stiller, who serves as director and executive producer on “Severance.” “So I wrote an email to him saying like, ‘Hey we have this show,’ whatever. And like two days later, I get an email back from President Barack Obama.”

The former president, 63, told Stiller he is a “big fan of the show” and “can’t wait for season 2,” but unfortunately said he didn’t “think I have time in my schedule to make this happen.”

“What’s more important than doing the voiceover for the animated building in Severance?” Stiller joked. “It was pretty cool that he responded.”

But Reeves took the role “very seriously,” and Stiller was happy the “John Wick” star’s performance.

“He’s just like the most warm, inviting voice,” Stiller said. “I don’t know if when you see the building and you hear his voice, you necessarily think immediately that it’s Keanu, but then I think you have this just innate feeling.”