Why Ben Affleck Chose Not to Show Michael Jordan's Face in New Nike Movie 'Air'

"He exists above and around the story," director Ben Affleck said of Michael Jordan's character's face not being shown in Air

Ben Affleck's new movie Air covers how footwear company Nike first signed Michael Jordan, but the director chose not to show the famous character's face onscreen.

"Jordan is too big," Affleck, 50, told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview of the decision to not show Jordan's face in the film, which has actor Damian Delano Young play the role.

"He exists above and around the story, but if you ever concretize him, if you ever say, 'Yes, that's Michael Jordan,' we know it's not, really. It's fake," the actor-director, who plays Nike, Inc. cofounder Philip Knight in the movie, said of Jordan, now 60.

"I thought if the audience brought everything they thought and remembered about him and what he meant to them to the movie and projected it onto the movie, it worked better," Affleck added.

Affleck told THR he sought out the real-life Jordan's thoughts before he embarked on the project, which costars Matt Damon and is the first film from the pair's new production company Artists Equity.

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Affleck told the outlet he met with Jordan to ask for advice for who should play his mother Deloris Jordan in Air, revealing that it was Jordan's idea to cast Viola Davis.

"'That's my mom.' He was dead serious," Affleck said, as he recalled Jordan's request for EGOT winner Davis, 57, to take the part. "'Viola Davis, that's my mom.' And that was it. Discussion was over. However it happened, it wasn't his problem, but it was going to f---ing happen. And I was like, 'Okay, Mike.' "

Shortly after Affleck's THR interview published, Davis told PEOPLE at the film's premiere during SXSW in Austin that she was "flattered" to learn Jordan had asked for her to play his mother.

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"I'm just hearing about it now," Davis said as she walked the red carpet with husband and costar Julius Tennon, who plays the NBA star's dad James. "It blew my mind. I'm glad I didn't know about it before."

Aside from Affleck, Damon and Davis, the movie also stars Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Marlon Wayans, Chris Tucker and Gustaf Skarsgård. Air is in theaters Wednesday.

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