Ben Affleckhas always been vocal about wanting Michael Jordan’s approval before making the biographical sports drama filmAir.Well, apparently, Affleck only had to do one major thing to get the blessing of the legendary basketball player. Michael Jordan’s condition to approve the project had something to do with the Academy Award winner Viola Davis.
Airdirector Ben Affleck shares details on his conversation with Michael Jordan. Affleck says he sat down with Jordan to discuss the film, and one of the few things the basketball player wanted was to include the vice president of the Jordan brand Howard White in the film. The actor turned director already had Chris Tucker in mind to play as Howard White, and he seized the opportunity to cast Tucker since he’s always wanted to work with the comedian for ages. He said at the SXSW as reported byVariety,
“I had a chance to sit down with Michael Jordan, because I just wasn’t going to make this movie without asking him, ‘What matters to you?’ Interestingly, and tellingly, he had a few things that mattered. One of them was that Howard White needed to be in the movie.”
Once the script was done, Affleck decided to have a meeting with Jordan again to further discuss the project. Affleck shared,
“I got the script and then had the chance again to talk to Michael. Michael Jordan, for those of you who don’t know, is one of the most intimidating, impressive men you’ll ever see in your life. He told me about his father. And then he talked about his mother. It was the first time I saw this look cross his face. It was a look of reverence, of awe, of love, and gratitude, and innocence. He said, ‘None of this would have ever happened without my mother.’ I said, ‘Who would you like to play your mom?’ He said, ‘Well, it has to be Viola Davis.”
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A Dream Come True for Ben Affleck
The husband of Jennifer Lopez was delighted at the idea of having Viola Davis take part in the project. Affleck has always wanted to direct Viola Davis, and it will be a dream come true for the actor to helm a film starring theHow To Get Away With Murderactress. He said,
“That’s like saying, ‘Can I play basketball on your court?’ ‘Yeah, if you get Michael Jordan.’ “Viola Davis is the best actor I’ve ever seen. This is a hard business. It’s hard to know if you’re successful. It’s hard to know if you’ve accomplished something. But honest to God, I always felt that if i was a director one day, and I had Viola Davis in a movie, that would really be something. That would mean the world to me. And it does.”
While introducing the film at the South by Southwest for the world premiere of Air, Affleck got the chance to introduce Viola Davis to bring her onstage and the actor just uttered the words,
“This is the best night of my professional life, and I want to welcome the best actor in the world.”
Airpremiered at the SXSW last March 18 and is scheduled to be released by Amazon Studios in the United States on April 5. The film marks the first Amazon Studios film to ever hit movie theaters.
