Keanu Reeves was Aziz Ansari’s first choice to play a guardian angel in Good Fortune because he “has a reputation of being such a sweet, kind of almost angelic figure”.
Aziz Ansari praises ‘angelic’ Keanu Reeves
The 61-year-old actor stars in the new comedy-action movie, which tells the story of an angel who attempts to show a struggling man that money doesn’t guarantee happiness and Aziz knew immediately that Keanu was perfect for the role.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: “He has a reputation of being such a sweet, kind of almost angelic figure and he also has this wisdom. If someone told you, ‘Hey, you know Keanu’s like 3,000 years old,’ you’d be like, ‘That kind of tracks,’ He has this depth to him. He’s also so funny in this film. I looked at some of his older work, stuff he did in Bill Ted and Parenthood, and took little pieces of that and constructed this character and he just knocks it out of the park.”
And Aziz revealed he had his own guardian angels to help him with his directorial debut, which also stars Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer and Sandra Oh.
He explained: “So many of my director friends … Spike Jones recommended Carter Burwell for me to use this, and he was such a kind guy. Steven Soderbergh watched an early cut of the film and gave me some very positive feedback that really brightened my heart after working on the movie so much. When you’re in this business of directing and writing, you look to your heroes. All of them have been so nice to me, so I feel like I owe them a shout-out.”
He also praised Rogen, who he previously collaborated with on Funny People, Observe and Report and This Is the End.
He said: “He’s not only an actor in the film, but he was always thinking about the film as a whole and how we could make it better and was so supportive of me. He’s one of the people who has pulled off what we’re trying to pull off here in terms of making films that people can enjoy and have this communal experience. So any of his guidance and wisdom I took to heart.”