The playful teasing between Barack Obama and Larry David apparently went overboard on the set of a new show.
Speaking to Variety, the director of a new HBO series from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, starring David, 78, said the former president attempted to offer notes on set before being swiftly shut down by the comedian.
“He gave a few notes about something, and Larry went, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, we got it,” Jeff Schaffer said of one time Obama tried to use his executive power on the set of Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness.
Schaffer said the former president responded by drawing on his time in the White House to illustrate how David should approach notes on set.
“I spent half an hour talking about how funny everything is. I give you one note, and you get into a defensive crouch,” Obama, 64, reportedly told David, adding: “When I was in the Oval Office, I took advice and listened to my advisers, and I was the president of the United States.”
The comedian, in his typically abrasive style, replied: “Yeah, but I’m the president of this.”
The sketch-comedy miniseries, released on Friday to mark the United States’ 250th birthday, features Obama appearing in several sketches alongside David, whose character is dropped into key moments in American history where he complicates events.
The show’s release has also offered a glimpse into the pair’s dynamic, with Obama and David exchanging playful jabs during the promotional period.
In a promotional video for Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, the former president said he has “sat across the table from some of the world’s most difficult leaders and wrestled with some of the globe’s most intractable problems,” adding, “nothing has prepared me for working with Larry David.”
Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live! ahead of the show’s premiere, David said he struggled to contain his laughter during one scene in which he considered calling the former president an “idiot” but ultimately reconsidered.
“In the sketch, he’s going to tell me… if he orders soup or spaghetti, he won’t wear a tie,” David told Kimmel, adding that when he said the word “idiot” in his head, he immediately started laughing.
“I knew even in a sketch there’s no way I’m calling this guy an ‘idiot,’” David said, adding that the scene had to be cut because he couldn’t stop laughing.
“He looked at me, and he said, ‘You can’t call the president an idiot,’” the comedian added, though that did not stop him from telling the former president that he is effectively taking on the role of giving acting notes.
Obama and David also share a friendship outside the show, with the former president previously joking about how much sunscreen the comedian uses during their golf trips.
