Elizabeth Warren may be a US senator, a onetime Harvard professor, and a current leading contender to win the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, but she's also something else: a huge fan of the HBO series Ballers.
Yes, Warren has been very vocal with her love for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's show, which ran for five seasons on HBO and explored the financial industry behind the world of the NFL.
To all the reporters tweeting at me about the season premiere of @BallersHBO on Sunday night at 10pm ET like I haven't had this date saved on my calendar for months: I KNOW.
Well, on Wednesday, Rob Corddry, one of the stars on the show, revealed to BuzzFeed News he personally had the chance to ask Warren why she liked Ballers when Samantha Bee roped in Corddry (and a cutout of The Rock with no shirt on) to surprise Warren during an interview for a 2017 episode of her show, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee.
"I met her on Sam Bee's show and I said, 'Why? Why?' and she said, 'Well, because when we were losing the election to Trump, when it became apparent, my husband and I just shut the TV off and we just indulged in this mindless fun' — which Ballers is!" added Corddry. "It's just glitzy fun!"
Corddry said the show was more than mere escapism for Warren.
"Really, she is the financial policy senator, and Ballers, as she explained to me — more than I knew about the show — she said, 'It's different people at different stages of their financial growth, whether they've had money and lost it, had money for the first time and are spending it, whether that be wisely or not, and taking care of your money for the future. And then there's also the sort of man trying to screw everybody out of their money,'' he recounted. "So it was very relevant to her!"
In an interview earlier this month with Entertainment Weekly, Warren recounted why she was such a fan. "It’s an interesting story that’s different from much of what’s on television," she said. "The issues they’ve tackled on Ballers are real."
But, she added, "It’s got The Rock! What’s not to love?"
In the opening of the show's final season this year, The Rock's character was spotted reading Warren's book on a beach, something that thrilled the senator. "I laughed out loud," she told EW. "I thought it was fabulous and I hope he got to finish the book."
Speaking to AM to DM, Corddry said how excited he was when Warren shared a video they had filmed for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
"That tweet thrilled me to no end that she posted that," said Corddry, who is currently starring in the CBS All Access show The Unicorn. "A lot of people in their responses were like, 'Oh, she's pandering. She's pandering to that coveted Ballers demographic.' And I was like, 'No! What I know about her, the conversations that I've had, it's legit. She likes the show!'"