Aziz Ansari reflects on Being Mortal / Bill Murray controversy

Aziz Ansari is just a couple days away from the world premiere of his debut film. That’s something we should have been writing three years ago. But once Being Mortal was cancelled amid claims that star Bill Murray had been inappropriate on the set, the movie had to live up to its title. Now, Ansari has Good Fortune lined up at TIFF – but he hasn’t been able to escape any stories related to Being Mortal.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in their cover story with Ansari and stars Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves, the writer/director remembered Murray being a total loss over the situation, at least partly because his actions caused production to be shut down after more than half of Being Mortal was shot. “He was devastated. He couldn’t believe it happened. I think this movie meant a lot to him…Everybody’s texting me, ‘Oh, Aziz, I’m so sorry.’ And I said, ‘Oh God, I can’t live in this woe-is-me moment.’ And so I called Seth [Rogen]. I said, ‘Hey, I know you’re supposed to be filming Being Mortal, so you’re free today. This is a sh*tty day for me. If you want to help me, read this, tell me if you want to do it.’”

Like Rogen, Keke Palmer would remain loyal to Ansari amid the Being Mortal controversy; joining them wouldn’t only be Reeves and Sandra Oh; and based on the trailer, the movie looks to be living up to its title.

For his part, Bill Murray has taken the controversy head-on, admitting that a situation he thought was funny – straddling and kissing a female member of the production team through Covid masks – wasn’t taken how he intended. As he put it, “You know, you can teach an old dog new tricks. But I just thought it was a disappointment. It was a great disappointment because I thought I knew someone and I did not. And I certainly thought it was light and I thought it was funny. And to me it’s still funny, the idea that you could give someone a kiss with a mask on, it’s still stupid. That’s all it was.”

After its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, Good Fortune will be hitting theaters on October 17th.

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