Ahead of the release of Air, which he directed and stars in, Ben Affleck has revealed how Jennifer Lopez helped to shape the movie’s script.
Speaking to THR, Affleck had nothing but praise for his wife and described how her knowledge helped him understand the impact of the shoes the film is about.
“Oh my God, she’s brilliant. She is incredibly knowledgeable about the way fashion evolves through the culture as a confluence of music, sports, entertainment and dance,” Affleck explained. “She helped me in talking about the way in which a part of the reason why Jordans [the shoes] were so meaningful is because culture and style in America is 90 percent driven by Black culture. Black culture has historically pioneered music, dance, fashion, and it’s then been stolen, appropriated, remarketed as Elvis or whatever.
“And in this case, [Nike], a white-run corporate entity, was starting to do business with African American athletes in an identity affiliation sales thing. They were really taking value from what Michael Jordan represents and who he is. I don’t think the meaning can be overstated. They’re going to switch from ‘Hey, guys, we are a nice shoe,’ to ‘If Mike has it, you want it.'”
Air is directed by Affleck from a screenplay written by Alex Convery. Joining the Good Will Hunting stars are Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, Chris Messina as David Falk, Matthew Maher as Peter Moore, Marlon Wayans as George Raveling, Chris Tucker as Howard White, Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan, Gustaf Skarsgård as Horst Dassler, and Julius Tennon as James Jordan.
The project will be produced by Affleck and Damon along with Mandalay Pictures’ Peter Guber and Jason Michael Berman. It is a production by Amazon Studios and Skydance Sports.
