Ben Stiller reveals Barack Obama was offered a role in Severance

Slight, very slight spoilers for Severance Season 2 here, but early on in the new series the innies are shown a video by Lumon, which has the buttery smooth voice of Keanu Reeves talking them through a new policy at the company. While Reeves filled the role very well, initially it was meant to go to someone else. Someone with arguably a bit more authority.

That someone was apparently Barack Obama, the former President of the United States. Speaking on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Stiller explained how he managed to even contact Obama for the role.

"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, so I wrote this email to him saying: 'Hey, we have this show... whatever,'" Stiller said.

"Two days later, 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. Don't think I have time in my schedule to make this happen.'"

And so, unfortunately there was no Obama cameo in Severance. Perhaps he'll be around for Season 3, if his schedule can allow it.