Bradley Cooper's Plan to Save Obamacare: Actor Set Up Obama's Between Two Ferns Chat With Pal Zach Galifianakis

Actor met with Obama's senior adviser to "brainstorm ideas about how to help get the word out on Obamacare"

By Alyssa Toomey Apr 02, 2014 4:20 PMTags
Barack Obama, Bradley CooperGetty Images

Turns out, President Barack Obama has a loyal—and intelligent—friend in Bradley Cooper.

In a new post titled "Behind the Obamacare surprise," Politico reports that the Silver Linings Playbook star played a crucial role in facilitating the POTUS' appearance on the mock-interview show Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, which lead to a massive surge in Obamacare enrollment.

With girlfriend Suki Waterhouse by his side, the 39-year-old actor visited the White House on Feb. 11 for a state dinner honoring France's President François Hollande where he met with Obama's senior adviser Valerie Jarrett to "brainstorm ideas about how to help get the word out on Obamacare," the site reports.

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

While the website Funny or Die had been suggested before, Cooper was pushing for his pal and Hangover costar Zach Galifianakis' mock-interview webshow Between Two Ferns.

"Cooper pulled out his cell phone, got Galifianakis on the line and put him on speaker. He was ready to help," Politico reports. "Now they just needed to sell the idea to the president."

The following day, Jarrett, communications director Jennifer Palmieri and press secretary Jay Carney pitched the idea to the president in the Oval Office, and despite the fact that he had never seen the show, he was a fan of the idea.

Funny Or Die

"'Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper are going to do this for me?' a very pleased Obama asked."

One month later, the clip was posted online and it's safe to say it was a complete success, as the video generated 11 million views and "Healthcare.gov showed a 40 percent spike in traffic from the day before."

The U.S. commander in chief later spoke about his appearance on the web show while speaking with Ryan Seacrest.

"Zach actually was pretty nervous," the POTUS, who certainly held his own while being grilled by Galifianakis, admitted with a laugh. "It was funny to watch because this whole Between Two Ferns schtick...his whole character is to go after the guest and I think he was looking around and seeing all these Secret Service guys with guns and thinking, 'I wonder what happens here if I cross the line?' But we had a great time."

PHOTO: Bradley Cooper and Suki Waterhouse shine at White House State dinner

Funny Or Die

And while Obama may not have been familiar with the Hangover star's spoof talk show, his daughter Malia was thrilled about her father's guest appearance.

"As I said, I wasn't familiar with this thing, but when I was at the dinner table with the girls and I said, 'Well today I did something with Zach, it's called Two Ferns I think?' Malia was so excited! She had seen all the previous episodes."

And it's all thanks to his BFF Bradley Cooper.

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