Parks and Rec star Aziz Ansari wrote, directed, and starred in a new comedy this year called Good Fortune. The story follows Ansari's Arj, a broke, down-on-his-luck man whose run-in with the angel Gabriel (Keanu Reeves' Gabriel) lets him swap lives with a rich guy (Seth Rogen's Jeff).
While the film is packed with talent, including a very different Keanu Reeves performance than his recent string of John Wick roles, the real star of the show may just be the massive mansion that Aziz Ansari was able to score for production, in which large chunks of the story take place.
Speaking with The Direct in an interview, Ansari revealed that the house "is in Bel Air" and that "it's tough to find a house that's that nice" from someone who "wants to lend it out for film and TV crews:"
Aziz: That place is in Bel Air, and all praise is due to our location manager, Jay Treanor. And you know, that house was so important, and it's tough to find a house that's that nice, where the person wants to lend it out for film and TV crews, but still has the resources to have a crazy house like that. We found it, and yeah, that was the perfect location for that.
The Direct is also thrilled to present an exclusive clip from Good Fortune, which features the beautiful mansion in all of its glory:
The rest of The Direct's interview with Good Fortune star Aziz Ansari can be seen below. Good Fortune is now available to purchase digitally on demand.
Aziz Ansari on Crafting a Story About the Rich and the Poor
"I Had to Do the Work to Make Sure that I Didn't Do This In a Way That Was Insensitive."
- The Direct: "There's a lot of commentary on very rich, well-off people and kind of that disconnect from reality. How much of the experiences that you put into this film are kind of based on real-life interactions you've had with people throughout your life and career?"
Aziz Ansari: Well, a lot of it's based on interviews that I did with people that I interviewed, who, whether they do gig work, whether they worked at Home Depot, whether they worked in unions, had to deal with things like sleeping in their car.
I did a lot of work to kind of get all that stuff accurate, because it was important to me, and I'm the first to admit, like, I'm closer to Jeff than I am Arj, so, I had to do the work to make sure that I didn't do this in a way that was insensitive, or would make someone that actually dealt with any of these things roll their eyes. And, yeah, we put in a lot of time to get all that stuff right.
- The Direct: "Do you think a majority of the people that are in that position of wealth and just privilege, are they inherently out of touch? Or is that easily something that, if you just put a spotlight on it, someone can adjust easily?"
Aziz Ansari:I think it depends on who the person is. I think that varies from person to person. And I think, you know, we all try to be aware and whatever, but there is something, there's a level that you don't know about, I'm sure.
Creating Angels For Well-Balanced, Introspective, and Funny Story
"You Don't Want to Do Something That Makes Light of What You're Talking About."
- The Direct: "What would you say your mission statement was? What was the core of everything you wanted to achieve?"
Aziz Ansari: I wanted to make a film that was a comedy that played theatrically, dealt with the themes that it dealt with and the topics it dealt with. But I really wanted to make a movie that was going to play in theaters and be a comedy.
- The Direct: "There's that balance of how funny it is, but it does have some very real, serious topics. What was that challenge like, balancing that as you were working through, while writing it, and also just the performance on the day?"
Aziz Ansari: That is the challenge. And for me, I spent a lot of time doing research and interviewing people to kind of write this stuff in a way that felt accurate. And then, you know, the comedy, it's tricky. You don't want to do something that makes light of what you're talking about. But I always just had it in my head, the tone. And it's really about tone. And if you have it in your head, you can pull it off. And I always just kind of had it in my head and was able to make it work.
- The Direct: "I'm a sucker for mythos and lore and all that, and obviously it's not necessarily the purpose of the film, but I'm just curious, when it comes to the angels, where did you start there? Like, this is how my angels are gonna work. This is their hierarchy. This is what they're doing."
Aziz Ansari: It started with Keanu [Reeves'] character, and just, I knew I had this idea of like an angel trying to help some guy, and then the guy rejecting him. And then I thought, Well, it'd be funny if he's not even supposed to do that, if he's supposed to really just be there for texting and driving, and he kind of oversteps his bounds.That made me laugh. And then it's like, Okay, well then he probably has a boss, and then you're like, Okay, so this is about him and his journey and his workplace, and then, oh, he gets fired. Then he becomes human. That all kind of slowly kept evolving.
The entire interview with The Direct's Russ Milheim and Good Fortune star, director, and writer Aziz Ansari, can be found here:
