Aziz Ansari welcomes his 'Good Fortune'

THE COMEDIAN BREAKS DOWN THE LONG ROAD TO HIS DIRECTORIAL FEATURE DEBUT, A BOLD COMEDY ABOUT THE HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS STARRING A MAGNETIC KEANU REEVES

- BY MARK OLSEN

Eddy Chen Lionsgate

INTRODUCING the TIFF world premiere of “Good Fortune,” his feature debut as a writer-director, comedian Aziz Ansari told the audience the three words that are scary in Hollywood right now: original theatrical comedy.

But the one word that is never scary is Keanu.

Speaking from the stage of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Roy Thomson Hall, Ansari recalled that his star Keanu Reeves broke his kneecap early in production. “I found out he broke his kneecap and I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Ansari continued, Reeves himself standing onstage just a few feet away. “It was like, ‘Oh, my God, what is Keanu going to say? Is he going to need some time off? Is he going to drop out of the movie?’”

“And you know what Keanu said?” Ansari added. “Nothing. He just kept showing up to work and never complained, not once,” Ansari said. “He worked through what surely must have been excruciating pain and delivered a hilarious, touching performance, and he is the soul of this movie.”