Aziz Ansari Interview: Good Fortune, Keanu Reeves, Why He Loves Touring, Stand Up, and More
10Aziz Ansari has been one of the most accomplished creative talents of his generation in stand-up comedy, film, and television. Now, the actor-comedian is making his feature directorial debut with Good Fortune, an ambitious action/fantasy comedy that stars himself, Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh, and Keanu Reeves. Best known for Parks and Recreation and Master of None, the latter of which he created, Ansari was a frequent staple of the Judd Apatow comedy scene in the 2000s and 2010s, appearing in Funny People, Get Him to the Greek, and This is the End. Ansari's on-screen rapport with Seth Rogen goes back decades, starting with the cult comedy Observe and Report.
Good Fortune is a hilarious modern fantasy that sees Keanu Reeves as Gabriel, an angel dissatisfied with performing trivial acts of divine intervention, who hopes to profoundly impact the lives of struggling mortals. Gabriel's holy powers touch Arj (Ansari), a down-on-his-luck menial laborer who strikes a lucky encounter with a "tech bro" in Jeff (Rogen), which leads to a lucrative new job. Eventually, when Arj is fired, Gabriel sweeps in and swaps the lives of Arj and Jeff, believing that each can learn something from walking a mile in the other’s shoes. Despite being an irreverent comedy, Good Fortune simultaneously acts as a satire on our age of growing social inequities.
Ansari took the film to this year's Toronto International Film Festival, where he stopped by Collider's Media Studio at the Cinema Center and spoke with Steve Weintraub about his new film. Ansari says that the film is attempting to tap into the deep frustration of people stuck in the gig economy. In the end, the film was a dynamic production. "I rewrite until the very last minute," Ansari said, citing the importance of having a great collaborator in Rogen.
Check out the full conversation in the video above or transcript below, where Ansari discusses the influence of Ernst Lubitsch and Preston Sturges' screwball comedies, tackling the class divide and the wealth gap, receiving feedback from Steven Soderbergh, working with Keanu Reeves, and the sci-fi script he has in the works.
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