“Michael Jordan, for those of you who don’t know, is one of the most intimidating, impressive men you’ll ever see in your life,” Ben Affleck said Saturday in Austin, Texas.
Affleck was introing “Air,” the new sports drama film he directed chronicling shoemaker Nike’s quest to sign Jordan at the beginning of the NBA legend’s pro basketball career. That signing led to the Chicago Bulls player and Nike collaborating on what became the popular and influential Air Jordan line of shoes and clothing.
Set in 1984, “Air” premiered at Austin entertainment and tech conference South by Southwest, often abbreviated as SXSW. Afterward, the film received a “long standing ovation,” Rolling Stone reports. “Air” features an all-star cast, including: Affleck as Nike founder Phil Knight; Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, the sports marketer who first signed Jordan to Nike; Viola Davis as Jordan’s mom Deloris Jordan; and Chris Tucker as eventual Jordan Brand vice president Howard White.
During his SXSW intro speech, reported by outlets including Variety, Affleck said he wouldn’t have made “Air” without Jordan’s blessing. According to Affleck, that blessing came with at least two requirements. Jordan said it was crucial that White be included in the story. And most importantly, Jordan asked that Davis, the Academy, Emmy, Tony and Grammy winning actor/producer who recently starred in “The Woman King,” portray his mom.
Before Affleck screened “Air” at SXSW, he recalled Jordan telling him, “‘None of this would have ever happened without my mother.’ I said, ‘Who would you like to play your mom?’ He said, ‘Well, it has to be Viola Davis.’”
Affleck continued, “That’s like saying, ‘Can I play basketball on your court?’ ‘Yeah, if you get Michael Jordan.’ Viola Davis is the best actor I’ve ever seen. This is a hard business. It’s hard to know if you’re successful. It’s hard to know if you’ve accomplished something. But honest to God, I always felt that if I was a director one day, and I had Viola Davis in a movie, that would really be something. That would mean the world to me. And it does.”
“Air” has an Alabama connection. Character actor Michael O’Neill, born and raised in Montgomery and an Auburn University grad, portrays an executive with Converse, the shoe company that had many of the top players of the day as endorsees, including the likes of Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, etc. O’Neill’s many previous credits include “Dallas Buyers Club,” “The West Wing,” “Seabiscuit,” “Transformers,” “NCIS” and “Scandal.”
In an October interview with AL.com’s Mary Colurso, O’Neill said of his work on the film “Air”, “It’s a lovely film. When I read the script, I went, ‘Oh, my God.’ I had no idea about this, nor the stakes that were involved. I just finished that. We filmed in LA. I really do have a … don’t blink, you’ll miss me. But I had so much fun working on it.”
“Air” is scheduled to hit theaters April 5 before making its way to streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video. You can watch the film’s trailer below.
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