Deadline caught up with House of Cards showrunner Beau Willimon on the occasion of the show's Emmy nomination in the category of outstanding drama series.

Michael Kelly Dishes About Doug's Rumored Exit In Season 4  

Willimon spoke about being something of a newcomer to the format of television along with actors Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. The showrunner discussed trying to reinvent the form, informed by his background of writing plays. He stated that "we were able to take a novelistic approach to filmmaking, which you could call television, but we really saw as a long movie, I guess, with more of a resemblance to a novel than anything else."

But one of the main highlights of the interview had to with Willimon finding out that the Obamas watched the show.

Frank & Claire To Adopt A Baby To Keep Up Facade Of Marriage? 

"The only reason I know that they watch," WIllimon said, "is because the President has tweeted about the show, and folks we've spoken to in the Obama Administration have said that they watch. It's incredibly flattering to think that the President of the United States, and the First Lady, would take any of their time out of an extremely busy schedule to watch anything we've made. It verges on the surreal. It's kind of hard to process. I'm thrilled that they remain interested in what we do, and hope that they remain fans."

Season 4 is set to return in 2016.

Watch a preview for season 3:

Tags: house of cards netflix television Barack Obama