Keanu Reeves might well be anyone’s first choice for anything, but he wasn’t Ben Stiller’s.

On Monday, the Severance co-creator revealed to Jimmy Kimmel Live that he actually had somebody specific in mind for a subtle celebrity cameo during the season two premiere in January — and that the Matrix star, who ultimately took the part, ironically wasn’t the one.

The role required a pleasant and docile voice to dub an animated video shown to staffers at the fictional Lumon Industries.

Ben, who executive produces the show and has directed most of it, said he wanted none other than Barack Obama to do it. 

“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’,” Ben told the US talk show host. “So I wrote an email to him saying, like, ‘Hey, we have this show,’ whatever.”

He continued: “And two days later, I get an email back from president Barack Obama.”

The former president regretfully declined the part, however, leading Keanu to get the gig and encourage Lumon’s intrepid Macrodata Refinement workers. Keanu’s voice cameo spawned many viral posts on X, formerly Twitter, after it aired, from excited users who recognised the actor’s voice.

“Shouted ‘oh my god that building is KEANU REEVES!!!’ to my friend during Severance and she was like ??? and turns out I was right!!!! Insane episode,” wrote one user at the time, with another posting: “Is that fucking Keanu Reeves in Severance season 2?!?!”

Ben also shared on Monday that Obama had told him he was a “big fan of the show”, but that he couldn’t do the job because of a busy schedule, prompting Ben to joke: “What’s more important than … doing the voiceover for the animated building in Severance?”

“It was pretty cool that he responded,” Ben earnestly added nonetheless.

Obama wouldn’t be the first U.S. president to act in a movie or TV show, as Donald Trump had a cameo in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1990), Ronald Reagan famously was an actor before entering politics (1937-1965), and Joe Biden appeared twice on Parks & Recreation.

In 2018, Obama launched his own production company, Higher Ground Productions, which co-produced 2023’s Leave The World Behind.

The former president wasn’t a silent partner, either. The director of the apocalyptic psychological thriller noted that certain script notes from Obama “scared the fuck out of me” during production.