Obama Turned Down Cameo In Game Of Thrones Creators' New Show, And Here's Why

Former President Barack Obama turned down a cameo in 3 Body Problem, the new sci-fi series from the creators of Game of Thrones, and he softened the blow with a silly note explaining his reason why.

David Benioff told USA Today that he and another of the show's co-showrunners, D.B. Weiss, attempted to recruit the 44th President of the United States but he passed on the offer, joking that he is holding out for a real alien invasion.

"(Obama) did sign a very funny note though, when we tried to get him for a cameo," Benioff said. "It was to the effect of, 'In case there ever is a real alien invasion, I think I should probably save myself for that crisis.'"

"He wants to keep his powder dry in case there's a real thing," adds Weiss.

Obama is a big fan of the source material, the Liu Cixin novel The Three-Body Problem, saying in 2017 that the sci-fi book helped calm his mind amidst the rigors of being President. He said his day-to-day problems trying to run the country didn't seem so bad when aliens could invade at any moment.

Obama and aliens have come up before. In 2021, Obama said when he was elected for the first time, he asked people in the know if there was a secret alien lab somewhere that was holding alien specimens. He was told there was not.

Obama is also a big fan of Game of Thrones, and he used his presidential power to get pre-release screeners of the fantasy drama.

Barack and Michelle Obama have a Netflix deal and produced the end-of-the-world movie Leave the World Behind starring Julia Roberts.

3 Body Problem premieres March 21 on Netflix. The series was created as part of the $200 million production deal Benioff and Weiss have with Netflix. They co-created the series alongside Alexander Woo (The Terror: Infamy).

In addition to 3 Body Problem, Weiss and Benioff are producing a show called Death by Lightning, which is a drama about the 20th US president, James Garfield, and the man who murdered him, Charles Guiteau.