Director/Writer/Producer Aziz Ansari joined THR at our TIFF suite at the 1 Hotel in Toronto and talks about watching his film 'Good Fortune' for the first time in full with the TIFF crowd. Plus, he dishes on discovering how funny Keke Palmer was, why he knew only Keanu Reeves could play his role in the film and more.
00:00There's a thing in London where there's always a commercial for Lloyd's Bank and it's like this big, do you know this thing?
00:08It's like this inspirational commercial and then at the end it's like Lloyd's Bank and someone always just yells, as soon as it says Lloyd's Bank they just go, rubbish!
00:19When I thought of the idea of doing a film I'd always talked about that idea of being in a theater and having a communal experience and a group of people laughing together and wow that was that times a million last night.
00:40So this was the first time I'd seen the finished movie with the crowd, it was so special and I didn't watch the whole thing, I like dipped in and out but it was great.
00:49You know what's fun is so in those videos of the audience you pick certain people that you watch and there's some people that like you know they're big laughers and you know they're like going crazy and it's just fun to kind of just see someone watching a whole movie, it's such a weird thing.
01:05One thing from the story you did with us that I wanted to ask a follow up question about is you discovering how funny Kiki Palmer was and I believe it was like just one little parenthetical that you had seen a clip of her interviewing Megan Thee Stallion.
01:20Yeah it was a famous clip that went around where she interviewed Megan Thee Stallion at the Met Gala and I had never seen it before and it was so funny to me and I saw that and then there was another clip where she was at a Black Lives Matter protest and she was speaking with a police officer who had sided with the protesters and she was trying to get him to join them.
01:44And there was just so much passion in her and you know I was just fascinated by this person that had both those sides to them that contained both those things.
01:54I thought I was a very special person and I was right she's very special Kiki.
01:57Was it scary at all to or different from like putting together the cast let's say on the TV show to go out to people and ask like send them this and ask them to do it?
02:09With this movie it was pretty smooth because I sent it to Seth and he called me in two hours and was like yeah I'm in.
02:17I gave it to Keanu and he liked the script right away and Kiki as well like everyone kind of came on board very quickly.
02:26Sometimes that process can be tricky because people if they say yes it changes the whole trajectory of your film and if they say no it also changes the trajectory you know you got to call the next next person.
02:37After I met Keanu I was like it's got to be him and I told him this one day after we finished rehearsing I said thank you so much for doing this movie and if you weren't doing it I don't even think I'd do it anymore.
02:49It's kind of true and I think if you see the movie you kind of get why I say that like you can't really imagine anyone else doing that part.
02:57Were there any of those like bits you came up with or things that kind of make fun of the guy in the big house that felt that you hesitated around like is this too can I take it can I take the joke on myself you know what I mean?
03:07Oh anytime I felt that I went towards that I wanted people that are in my friend group to feel uncomfortable you know because you can watch succession and you're like I'm not I'm not that guy but this a lot more people are like okay you know.
03:22If you can share one that felt like oh I have to write into this because this is getting this is making me feel prickly like which of the things that Jeff does or has like cold plunge?
03:30Oh eating burrata the sauna and cold plunge stuff.
03:35Is eating burrata cringy?
03:37No but just like being so into burrata like I'm a burrata boy it's like come on man.
03:43True.
03:43True.
03:44A lot of this movie takes place well not a lot but a few key scenes at taco stands right?
03:49Do you have a favorite in LA?
03:52There was a there's a taco place called Ricky's Fish Tacos that was in LA do you know Ricky's?
03:57I do yeah he's gone yeah but he's gone.
04:00This is how I'm finding out Ricky's is gone.
04:02Yeah he's been gone for a couple years and last time I saw Ricky I was.
04:07What'd he say?
04:08What'd Ricky say?
04:10Well Ricky and I became friendly and whenever I'd see him we'd say hi and he was his truck was parked in Riverside.
04:16The last time I saw Ricky and I don't know if I saw Ricky it was it was his truck uh I was going to Ojai um which is outside of Los Angeles and I saw the truck on the highway.
04:32And that was the last time I saw the truck.
04:34Was it driving on the highway towards Ojai?
04:36Yeah I don't know I don't know if he went to Ojai or what I don't know where he was going and I had Ricky's number and I texted him I said Ricky where are you?
04:43And he never responded I don't know what happened.
04:45I mean I'd known the guy for a while and he like I would do stand-up shows when I had like a big stand-up show in LA I'd have like an after party and Ricky would bring out a fryer and he would do fish and shrimp tacos for everybody and now he's gone.
04:57Okay well hopefully if Ricky sees this he can comment on this.
05:00Yeah wait we're not cutting off the favorite tacos thing because you know this is fun because I've been getting a lot of like how'd you come up with the movie?
05:07Now we're talking about tacos this is this is this is what I've been waiting for.
05:12No uh another taco place I like uh there there so this is like another sentimental when I first moved to LA there's a famous uh taco truck in Echo Park called Taco Zone and it was open late and that was a place you'd go like after you've had
05:26a you know a long night you end up at Taco Zone and you get a uh Suadero Melita and uh we called the company well this all comes back to the movie you know when you when you're making a movie you come up with a little LLC for the movie and it was Suadero Melita and uh it was based off Taco Zone and uh one time I remember when I was at Taco Zone I was there it was late at night and there were some people that maybe had a little bit too much to drink and they were a little too excited to see someone they knew from TV
05:56and it was a little awkward I was sitting there waiting for the tacos and they were like yelling at me and these lovely ladies from Taco Zone let me they let me hide in the truck
06:05and uh uh yeah and on our last day of filming I uh I had the we had the Taco Zone truck come out as a treat and and uh I got a Suadero Melita and it all came around full circle
06:20incredible Taco Zone is the closest taco truck to me but oh yeah so you know that one too I'm vegetarian so I don't get the Suadero but I get the I get the vegetarian Melitas
06:28ah okay so what do they put in there like mushrooms rice beans avocado cheese oh that sounds nice fajita veggies sometimes
06:37wow yeah still pretty good I feel bad that I had to break the news to you about Ricky I know me too well obviously if it's been several years it's not like I've been
06:47knocking on the door you know when I was writing this I had specific places in my head and that was one
06:52that taco stand that's on Hollywood I I just thought that felt so LA and I love the idea that they have
06:58this date like sitting on these little plastic chairs and it's kind of cute and and um yeah I'd always
07:04pictured it there what are your creature comforts that you need to bring with you on a trip that like
07:10ground you what are your what do you need um sleep is so important so I I uh my wife found these nice
07:18eye masks this like silk eye mask and uh those those really helped me sleep so a good eye mask I need
07:26that my wife gave me this like face mist I like that I like a face mist yeah when it wakes you up a
07:34little bit but not really I don't know if it really works it's kind of just like putting water on your face
07:38uh but I'll I'll I'll I'll buy into it maybe in a placebo way it helps I like having an alarm clock
07:45I like having I have a little portable like a little brawn alarm clock I like that uh and a notepad
07:50that I keep beside my bed but anyway Aziz Ansari that's good fortune October 17th
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