American actress Julia Roberts has been in show business for more than three decades and has given the world some of the best movies of all time.

From romcoms such as Notting Hill and Runaway Bride to the Academy Award-winning documentary Erin Brockovich, she has starred in numerous amazing projects over the years.

Although the director of Julia Roberts’ first big film Steel Magnolias was very tough on her, she gave a phenomenal performance that not only won her the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress but also her first Academy Award nomination.

A recent update about the actress’ upcoming movie Leave The World Behind has stated that former U.S. President Barack Obama played a major role in the movie’s development.

Julia Roberts

Barack Obama Helped To Develop Julia Roberts’ Leave The World Away 

Former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground Productions is executive producing Leave The World Behind which will be the company’s first feature film. The film has an ensemble cast featuring Hollywood’s A-list actors such as Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethane Hawke, and Kevin Bacon.

Julia Roberts as Amanda in Leave the World Behind
The movie is a psychological thriller and is directed, written, and produced by Sam Esmail. It is based on Rumaan Alam’s novel of the same name which was featured in the former President’s 2021 summer reading list. Obama’s deep appreciation for the book enabled him to be hands-on with the project.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, director Sam Esmail revealed how Obama’s notes on the script helped him to shape the movie better. He said:
“In the original drafts of the script, I definitely pushed things a lot farther than they were in the film, and President Obama, having the experience he does have, was able to ground me a little bit on how things might unfold in reality.”
The Mr. Robot creator seemed to be immensely grateful to Obama for his insightful notes on the film’s script. The former President and the first lady mostly focus on executive-producing projects that shape society in some way as they have produced documentaries, children’s shows, and historical dramas.

Barack Obama Wants The Movie To Be Good

A scene from Leave the World Behind starring Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Myha’la Herrold
Julia Roberts‘ movie Leave The World Behind revolves around how two families grapple with a life-threatening disaster in hopes of surviving it. The response of the families to this mysterious disaster will be the major focus of the movie rather than the disaster itself.

Speaking of President Obama’s love for movies, Sam Esmail told Vanity Fair:
“He had a lot notes about the characters and the empathy we would have for them. 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.”
Esmail had previously worked with Julia Roberts on the shows Homecoming and Gaslit and wished to see her portray the character Amanda in the movie. Luckily for him, she probably read the book in a single day and then called to tell him that she was up for it.