$150,000,000 Rich Ben Affleck Resorts to “Begging” Just to Surprise Michael Jordan and Fulfill His Wishes: “Jen [Lopez] Gave me Some Great Lines Too”

The story behind Michael Jordan‘s iconic shoe deal with Nike is so intriguing that one can make a movie on it. Hollywood star Ben Affleck probably thought the same thing when he first heard the tale of the birth of Air Jordan. Ben Affleck directed ‘Air’, based on Jordan’s deal with Nike, is all set to premiere at the South by Southwest film festival on March 18. The film features Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker, and Viola Davis among others. However, Ben Affleck has recently revealed the great lengths he went to in order to fulfill His Airness’ wishes for the movie.

Ben Affleck had sat down with the Chicago Bulls legend before the filming and that sit-down had completely transformed the movie. It was after talking to Jordan that Affleck got a complete sense of what the movie is or should be. However, the 6x-NBA champion wished to see one esteemed actor play his mother and Ben Affleck had to resort to begging to fulfill that wish.

Ben Affleck resorted to ‘begging’ for Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan’s mother Deloris Jordan played a vital role in making the Nike-Jordan deal happen. MJ23 used to prefer Adidas over Nike. It was Deloris who prompted her son to sign the historic deal. Director Ben Affleck learned about this after his conversation with Jordan.

The veteran actor had asked Jordan if he had any recommendations for the role of Deloris Jordan. Apparently, MJ badly wanted Viola Davis to play his mother’s character. However, it was difficult for Affleck to convince an actor like Davis to say ‘yes’ to such a brief role.

In his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Affleck was asked how he got Viola Davis to play Deloris Jordan in the film. Affleck replied, “Begging. I’m sure it was because I said, “Michael Jordan wants you to play his mom.” It certainly wasn’t “Ben Affleck wants you to be in his movie.”

Ben Affleck was initially reluctant to ask Viola Davis for a role where she has just one line. However, the Good Will Hunting actor had to take extra efforts to fulfill Hir Airness’ wish. “She’s not comfortable with sycophancy or obsequiousness. You can tell it chafes her. I just treated her with respect,” Affleck added.

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He and Matt Damon started to write and work together. Jennifer Lopez too came in with great lines and things started to get better. Ben Affleck added that he wanted Viola Davis’ part in the film to be a surprise to everyone.

In the interview, Affleck also stated that his film is not about Nike’s history and he did not talk to anyone at Nike the way he spoke to Jordan.

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