TORONTO - By the time Keanu Reeves suffered an injury on the set of 鈥淕ood Fortune,鈥 Aziz Ansari had faced enough setbacks to make his film鈥檚 title sound ironic.聽
Ansari鈥檚 first stab at directing a feature, 鈥淏eing Mortal,鈥 was shut down in 2022 after its star Bill Murray was accused of misconduct on set. Then his next attempt, 鈥淕ood Fortune,鈥 was put on hold during the Hollywood strikes.聽
And just as production finally picked up again, Reeves took a tumble in the least cinematic way possible.
鈥淗e had some bad fortune on set. He broke his kneecap. He fell down going back to his dressing room,鈥 Ansari says during an interview when the film premiered at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
鈥淲e had the same stunt people that worked with him on 'John Wick' and some other stuff. And I was like, 鈥楬e got hurt on those, right? He'll be fine.鈥 They were like, 鈥楴o, he never got hurt.鈥 Not until my movie. That's when he gets hurt.鈥
Reeves, who plays a guardian angel in the body-swap comedy, powered through and completed most of his scenes while injured, saving the more physical sequences for after he healed.聽
鈥淗e was always just like, 鈥業'm fine, let's go.鈥 Obviously, something was wrong鈥ut he just wanted to shoot. The guy wants to shoot. He loves making movies,鈥 says Ansari.
It鈥檚 been a long and rocky road to "Good Fortune," which some are calling Ansari鈥檚 Hollywood comeback after a stretch out of the spotlight 鈥 his last onscreen appearance was a scaled-back role in the final season of his Netflix show "Master of None" in 2021.
He laughs at that suggestion, pinning his absence to the film's multiple hurdles.
鈥淭his is a big movie and it鈥檚 taken me a while,鈥 he says.聽
鈥淓very movie is a miracle.鈥
In the film, out Friday, Reeves' bumbling angel swaps the lives of a struggling food delivery driver, played by Ansari, and a spoiled tech billionaire, played by Seth Rogen. The heavenly plan is meant to prove the grass isn鈥檛 greener on the other side 鈥 until it turns out that it is. A comedy of errors ensues, doubling as a satire of the gig economy.
It鈥檚 Ansari鈥檚 highest-profile project since a sexual misconduct allegation in 2018, when an anonymous accuser wrote in a blog post that she felt 鈥減ressured鈥 into sex during a date with the comedian. Ansari responded with a statement, saying he believed the encounter was 鈥渃ompletely consensual鈥 and that he was 鈥渟urprised and concerned鈥 when the woman later told him she felt otherwise. He addressed the incident again in his 2019 standup special, 鈥淎ziz Ansari: Right Now.鈥
Asked what he had learned from the experience, Ansari sidestepped: 鈥淟ook, I mean, I鈥檓 just so happy to be here with the movie. I had a great experience with everybody, and yeah, it鈥檚 just such an honour to be at the festival. It took a long time to get here and make the movie, and I鈥檓 excited to be here.鈥
Back in 2022, Ansari was caught in the orbit of another controversy during the production of 鈥淏eing Mortal,鈥 when Murray was found by Searchlight Pictures to have engaged in 鈥渋nappropriate behaviour鈥 with a female assistant.
Again, Ansari avoided comment on the allegation against Murray but spoke highly of the film鈥檚 source material, a non-fiction book by Atul Gawande on the challenges of aging, illness and end-of-life care. The dramedy was shelved three weeks into production.
鈥淚t's such an interesting topic and maybe one day I can revisit it,鈥 he says.
鈥淚 mean, I鈥檝e got to get through this. Let's see if people go to (鈥楪ood Fortune鈥) and then hopefully it'll be easier to revisit that and make the other things I've got cooking.鈥
With 鈥淕ood Fortune,鈥 Ansari was looking to keep things light.聽
鈥淚'd been doing some stuff that was a little heavier and I wanted to do a comedy. I thought about these movies that were around in the 鈥30s and 鈥40s that would deal with class and wealth inequality, things like 鈥楽ullivan's Travels鈥 or 鈥楳y Man Godfrey鈥 or 鈥業t's a Wonderful Life,鈥欌 he says.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥榃hat if you did a movie like that, but you updated it for today?鈥欌
To help realize his vision, Ansari assembled a Canadian dream team of Reeves, Rogen and Sandra Oh, who plays an angel boss. At the time, he wasn鈥檛 aware of their shared heritage.
鈥淚 didn't know Sandra was Canadian,鈥 he says.
鈥淪o yeah, I've got the Canadian trifecta between Sandra, Keanu and Seth Rogen. They're very nice people.鈥澛
If all goes well, Ansari says he鈥檒l tap the musical equivalent of the trio for his next film.
鈥淒o you know Drake鈥檚 Canadian?鈥 he quips.
鈥淭he next movie it鈥檚 Drake, The Weeknd and PartyNextDoor.鈥
This report by 国产诱惑福利 was first published Oct. 13, 2025.
