*Michelle Obama says her husband still fields one pointed question about “Leave the World Behind.” Did he know something the rest of us don’t?
The former first lady discussed the Netflix thriller with Mahershala Ali on Wednesday’s episode of “IMO.” Her brother, Craig Robinson, co-hosts the show alongside her.
“It was funny because when folks found out that we were a part of that, one of the big questions Barack gets is, ‘Did you get involved with that movie because you know something?'” she said.
The film has even overtaken one of the former president’s most familiar topics. “Usually, the No. 1 question he gets is, ‘Is there life on other planets?'” Michelle said. “And now it’s, ‘Were you trying to tell us something in that movie?'”
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Online, some fans went further and argued the Obamas made the movie to alert the public. Writer-director Sam Esmail rejected that notion in an interview with Collider. He explained that Barack joined the team only shortly before shooting started.
Barack did leave his mark on the script, though. He gave Esmail feedback on which story beats felt believable for a crisis on American soil and flagged ideas he found “too bleak or unlikely.”
Esmail told Vanity Fair that the feedback rattled him. “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. And to hear an ex-president say you’re off by a few details,” he said. “I thought I was off by a lot! The fact that he said that scared the [expletive] out of me.”
Esmail told Collider that Barack also urged him to let the characters show more warmth toward one another as chaos unfolds.
The 2023 release marked the first scripted film from Higher Ground Productions. The story follows a cyberattack that plunges the nation into chaos. Based on Rumaan Alam’s novel, the film adapts a book Barack Obama included on his 2021 summer reading list.
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