BEN AFFLECK WANTED VIOLA DAVIS

Ben Affleck says he would never have made Air without Michael Jordan’s blessing, but that blessing came with one major request. Her name? Viola Davis.The film follows the deal that led to the creation of the iconic Air Jordan shoe line.Ben Affleck shared the conversation at the film’s premiere at SXSW in Austin on Saturday.”[Michael Jordan] said, ‘None of this would have ever happened without my mother.’ I said, ‘Who would you like to play your mom?’ He said, ‘Well, it has to be Viola Davis.””That’s like saying, ‘Can I play basketball on your court?’ ‘Yeah, if you get Michael Jordan.’ “Viola Davis is the best actor I’ve ever seen,” he said.Affleck continued. “This is a hard business. It’s hard to know if you’re successful. It’s hard to know if you’ve accomplished something. But honest to God, I always felt that if i was a director one day, and I had Viola Davis in a movie, that would really be something. That would mean the world to me. And it does.”Air, directed by Ben Affleck, stars Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro as, the Nike employee who convinced Jordan (played by Damian Young) to sign the deal that would eventually lead to the creation of the iconic Air Jordan shoe line.Ben Affleck plays the Nike co-founder Phil Knight alongside Viola Davis, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, and Chris Tucker.Air hits theaters on April 5.