Ben Affleck shares what he loved most about directing “Air,” the Amazon Studios-produced story of Nike’s first shoe deal with Michael Jordan, and why he’d rather do original stories instead of his own Batman movie. Affleck’s “Air” co-star Chris Tucker also opened up to Narcity’s Josh Elliott about playing Howard White, whom he’s friends with in real life.
Category
🏖
TravelTranscript
00:00What captivates me when I watch this movie is the performances,
00:02the things these people say to each other and how they feel,
00:04what it makes me feel.
00:05And I believe it, and I know it's not real.
00:09Hi, guys. How are you?
00:10Hey, Josh. How are you?
00:12I'm good. Ben, listen, I want to start with you.
00:15I feel like in another universe,
00:16you could be directing Batman movies and cashing checks,
00:19but here you are with this movie,
00:20making art with your friends.
00:22What made this movie the right choice,
00:23the right thing to fight for for you?
00:25I mean, it's exactly what you described.
00:27It's making something I care about with people I love and admire,
00:30and that's such a better life for me
00:33because these are the kinds of movies I care about.
00:35I think Batman's great,
00:36and the people who do that and direct that movie should love it
00:39and have joy in it.
00:40And this is what I love,
00:42and what I'm dedicated to at this time
00:45is really trying to create worth and value
00:48for people who are creative and value those people
00:50who bring us these technicians and artists.
00:52And I think also I want to be able to try
00:58to make the kind of movies that I really like.
00:59Stories about people that are original stories
01:02that is sometimes like what captivates me
01:04when I watch this movie is the performances,
01:06the things these people say to each other
01:07and how they feel, what it makes me feel.
01:09And I believe it, and I know it's not real.
01:12So there's something magical about that.
01:14Movies, at their best, you know, I watched,
01:17I mean, it's a different kind of movie,
01:18but I watched To Leslie recently,
01:20and I thought, like, this is a beautiful movie.
01:22It can make me feel something
01:24and feel that, you know, life has meaning.
01:27And it's okay to have fun watching a movie.
01:29It's okay to respect the audiences that are having fun.
01:32And you don't also have to mean
01:34that you condescend to the audience and dumb it down.
01:36I wanted it to be smart and engrossing and surprising
01:40and funny and provocative and interesting
01:42and ultimately really rewarding and inspiring.
01:44I'm willing to bet my career on Michael Jordan.
01:47Come on, man.
01:49You ask me what I do here, this is what I do.
01:51Yeah, I find you players,
01:53and I f***ing feel it this time.
01:55Okay, it's risky.
01:56When you were selling sneakers
01:57out of the back of your Plymouth, that was risky.
01:59It took balls.
02:00I mean, that's why we're all here.
02:02Don't change that now.
02:04Well, you definitely nailed it.
02:06Like, it's a lot of fun.
02:07And Chris, I gotta ask you,
02:08I know you brought something to the table,
02:10not just in terms of performance, but script and scenes.
02:14What were you most proud of from this movie?
02:16You know what, that part, you know,
02:19just being able to collaborate with Ben and Matt
02:22and to bring a little of the level to this character.
02:27And I knew Howard White,
02:29and when I found out about the role,
02:31it just all made sense to do it, you know?
02:34These are the type of roles that I wait for, you know,
02:36that I have a lot of freedom
02:38and work with great, smart director, producers, writers,
02:42and, you know, and do a lot of research.
02:44And Howard was so gracious, my friend Howard White,
02:49he had me interviewed,
02:50I interviewed all his childhood friends
02:53up until Charles Barkley, coaches and teachers,
02:57and that he's still in touch with.
02:58That's how much of a likable person he is.
03:01He's still talking to these people.
03:03A lot of people don't remember their high school teachers.
03:07And I had to, I was talking to them,
03:09finding out his characters,
03:12his mom's things his mom's used to say to him.
03:14Like, he got in trouble one time
03:16by walking past this old man in his neighborhood,
03:18and his mom said,
03:19even a dog can wag his tail when he walks by somebody,
03:22so don't you ever do that again.
03:24And he was telling me the lessons that his mom's taught him.
03:27So I had a lot of, my mom's like that too,
03:29so a lot of similarities.
03:31So it was a lot of fun to tap into somebody
03:34who you can pull from, you know, from yourself.
03:37Totally, it was a lot of fun to watch.
03:39Thanks so much, gentlemen, and have a good one.
03:41Thank you, man, you too.