Source: Tim Mosenfelder / Getty
Ben Affleck recently discussed why Michael Jordan isn’t in Air even though he approved the making of this film based on real-life events.
Affleck said, “How do you tell a story about Michael Jordan and never see him? When you are that person, when you become so much more than a hero or an athlete or even an icon, you start to become an idea to people.”
He continued, “You touch them and just start to represent hope and excellence and greatness. You are one of a kind. And there is no way I was ever going to ask an audience to believe that anybody other than Michael Jordan was Michael Jordan. Which was also out of my own naked self-interest, frankly, because I knew it would destroy the movie.”
He added, “You will see him [in archival clips] in the movie, but you will see Michael Jordan as he truly is in his authentic masterful genius, which exists for all of us to see. It was a deliberate choice. I thought he was too majestic to have anyone impersonate him and – as I told him – ‘You’re too old to play the part.'”
What do you think about Ben Affleck’s choice not to have someone play Michael Jordan in this movie?
