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Barack Obama has a lot of accomplishments to his name. Aside from his role as President of the United States, Obama is also a Netflix partner, and provided notes for “Leave the World Behind,” a new thriller written and directed by Sam Esmail, known for his TV show “Mr. Robot.”
© GettyImagesThe film stars Ethan Hawke, Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Kevin Bacon, and follows two families that start working together following a blackout that affects the whole country. The film is based on the novel of the same name, written by Rumaan Alam. Since Obama has some expert knowledge in matters of the state, Esmail reached out to him for some consultation, ensuring that the story was as real as possible.
“I am writing what I think is fiction, for the most part, I’m trying to keep it as true to life as possible, but I’m exaggerating and dramatizing,” said Esmail to Vanity Fair. “And to hear an ex-president say you’re off by a few details…I thought I was off by a lot! The fact that he said that scared the fuck out of me.”
© GettyImagesObama’s Netflix deal
Aside from providing notes on the film, Obama is also one of its producers, signing on to the project last year. Esmail praised his notes and called him a movie lover, and someone who wasn’t only interested in the political elements of the story.
“He had a lot [of] notes about the characters and the empathy we would have for them,” Esmail said. “I have to say he is a big movie lover, and he wasn’t just giving notes about things that were from his background. He was giving notes as a fan of the book, and he wanted to see a really good film.”
