Aziz Ansari has become the master of his own good fortune

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Aziz Ansari must have one heck of a guardian angel watching over him. Over the past few years, the comic actor behind everything from NBC’s Parks and Recreation to Netflix’s Master of None has found himself tripping into the headlines, only to quickly recover.

In 2018, the website Babe.net published a woman’s account of a date with Ansari that, in her words, turned into “the worst night” of her life − with the essay quickly going viral in the immediate aftermath of the #MeToo era, sparking debates about the line between a bad date and something far worse. A year later, though, Ansari was headlining a sold-out standup tour, addressing the moment if not exactly dissecting it. He was back writing and directing the third season of Master of None by 2021.

All seemed steady when in the spring of 2022, Ansari began filming his feature directorial debut, an adaptation of Atul Gawande’s bestselling non-fiction book Being Mortal, starring himself, Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer, and Bill Murray. But a few weeks into filming, a complaint was filed against Murray by a crew member for allegedly inappropriate behaviour, and production was suspended, never to resume.

Which is when Ansari’s agile angel reared its head again, with the filmmaker taking the suspension to figure out his way to writing and directing the aptly titled Good Fortune, which follows a down-on-his-luck L.A. gig worker named Arj (Ansari) who switches places with a wealthy tech bro Jeff (Rogen) thanks to the machinations of a winged guardian angel named Gabriel (Keanu Reeves).

At last month’s Toronto International Film Festival, where Good Fortune made its world premiere ahead of its Oct. 17 theatrical release, Ansari sat down with The Globe and Mail to discuss the project.

It’s interesting to see a comedy on the big screen − that feels increasingly rare these days.

It is. And when I was putting this together, I was always saying it had to be in theatres. So to be here at a festival in a massive theatre, with a bunch of people laughing together, that’s a great experience. I remember going to see Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, and having such great times. I hope that this movie brings some of that back.

You mentioned a few Seth Rogen movies there, and I feel like his career speaks to that challenge of getting big-screen comedies made. Good Fortune is the first real big-screen comedy he’s starred in since 2019’s Long Shot. He’s mostly working in episodic TV these days. Was it a challenge to get this through the door?

I think I was pretty firm about wanting to do it this way, so we didn’t go to those other places like streaming. It was always going to be theatrical, and Lionsgate was very much into that idea. And you know, having Keanu doesn’t hurt. But Seth was the first person to come on board and once he was there, it came together.

You and Seth go back to Judd Apatow’s Funny People, and I know he also was cast in Being Mortal. How has your relationship evolved over almost two decades?

Now, he’s a great friend. But he’s also a mentor, even though he’s only a year older or so. He’s one of the smartest people I know about filmmaking, screenwriting, and has always been very generous with me. He was the first person to read this script and say he’s on board.

Was there ever any thought in your mind, because you’re doing double duty, about switching off roles here with Seth, so it takes a little bit of the screen time off your shoulders?

I was used to the balance because of Master of None on Netflix, where I had to switch places between acting and directing a lot. It’s actually kind of weird when you have a smaller part, because when you do have to make the change, you’re like, “Oh God!” Whereas if you’re just in it all the time, you get used to it. Initially, though, I wrote the angel part for Seth, and then I had a hard time getting a guy to play the Jeff character. It was about threading that needle of this guy being a douchey character, but also someone who you want to root for.

Aziz Ansari asks: What’s so funny about modern romance?

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You’ve assembled a very Canadian cast here. Seth, Keanu, Sandra Oh. I assume that’s purely by accident, and I don’t know if any kind of Canadian sensibility came through here ...

I didn’t realize Sandra was Canadian until she was on set! I did think, oh wow, that’s a lot of Canadians. But they’re very nice and funny, so they came through for me.

There are some obvious influences here, such as Wings of Desire, Trading Places, a little Freaky Friday. What were your viewing habits going into this − did you assemble any kind of syllabus for yourself or the cast?

During the strike, I watched probably a hundred movies. Everything from Italian neo-realism to British kitchen-sink stuff, the Ken Loach and Mike Leigh films. But the ones that struck me were the comedies from the ’30s and ’40s, like Sullivan’s Travels or My Man Godfrey − movies that dealt with issues in that time. So what is that today? It’s Jeff going from his sauna and cold-plunge pool, you know? I’m just saying this because you have a Criterion bag there on the floor.

So do you have a cold-plunge pool?

It definitely wakes me up. We should have one in the junket right here.

And then if a journalist asks a question you don’t like, into the cold plunge. Okay, before we wrap, are you leaning toward acting more, or taking on more of a directorial-focused career?

I want to make more movies, there’s a sci-fi movie I wrote that I’m excited about. We can just call it “untitled Aziz sci-fi movie.” I just hope to make more original films, that’s the big hope.

This interview has been condensed and edited.

Good Fortune opens in theatres Oct. 17.