Maybe Ed Helms will help with the sequel. According to Politico, Bradley Cooper was partially responsible for facilitating Barack Obama's appearance on Zach Galifianakis' Funny or Die series, "Between Two Ferns."
The site reports that Cooper and Valerie Jarrett, Obama's senior advisor, met on Feb. 11 to "brainstorm ideas about how to help get the word out on Obamacare." While Funny or Die had come up before -- perhaps as early as July of 2013 -- it was Cooper who apparently sparked a renewed push for "Between Two Ferns," and he went so far as to call Galifianakis from the White House.
Not that the 44-year-old (fake) talk-show host was caught flat-footed when Cooper called. "Between Two Ferns" director and executive producers Scott Auckerman told Vulture that he acted as an "ambassador" for the show when Funny or Die representatives met with Jarrett at that July 2013 meeting.
"Zach and I didn’t really think that anything would come of it. I mean, we’d been hearing rumors that President Obama has perhaps been interested in doing the show for quite a few years now and it never really panned out," Auckerman said. "And then months and months went by and nothing really happened with it. So, approximately three weeks ago, we heard that if it was ever going to happen, it was going to be now, so we should get ready and prep."
Funny enough, Obama went out of his way to praise Cooper during his appearance on "Between Two Ferns," a bit of in-sketch ribbing that got under Galifianakis' skin.
"Being like that in Hollywood, that's easy!" Galifianakis told Obama after the president complimented Cooper's looks and talent. "Tall and handsome, that's easy! Be short, fat and smell like Doritos and try to make it in Hollywood."
As U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said in an interview with HuffPost Live on Monday, Galifianakis' "Between Two Ferns" episode provided the administration with a "bump" following its debut. "The website traffic surged once the 'Between Two Ferns' interview went on," Sebelius said. "But more importantly, what we're trying to do is reach people in the language that they most understand. Certainly Zach reaches a certain audience."
For more on the ways the Obama administration tried to promote the Affordable Care Act, head to Politico.
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