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Ben Affleck's directorial, Air, is bringing back Chris Tucker to the big screen for the first time in seven years. The Amazon Prime sports marketing film will follow the story of how maverick sneaker salesman Sonny Vaccaro, played by Matt Damon, turned a shoe company called Nike into one of the biggest brand names as it pursued Michael Jordan to sign in.
Along with directing the movie, Affleck will also portray Nike co-founder Phil Knight in the story. The movie will feature a stellar cast including Chris Tucker, who was roped in to play a character called Howard White.
Chris Tucker plays Howard White in Ben Affleck's Air
When Chris Tucker spoke at the premiere of the Nike drama AIR at SXSW in Austin, he commented on how he landed the role.
As per People, he said:
"My agent called me and said they got a movie about something to do with Michael Jordan, and they want you to play this character called Howard White. There wasn't no words, it wasn't no character, it wasn't there in the script. I said, 'Wait a minute, that's my friend.' So I called him [White] and found out that it was, he was in this movie and I said, 'Whoa man, but they said it's not much, but you know, I'm considering it cause it's you.'"
Tucker also revealed that his conversations with Affleck and Damon, as well as his love of basketball legend Michael Jordan, convinced him to take on the role. According to the actor, both Affleck and Damon were very liberal with how he wanted to portray his character.
Who is Howard White?
Howard White is the Vice President of Jordan Brand for NIKE, Inc., and founder of Believe to Achieve, which is a national NIKE youth movement. White joined NIKE in 1978 as a Field Representative and in 1984 he became instrumental in the launch of a 6’ 6” phenomenon that would soon become known as Air Jordan.
His business acumen and personal relationship with Michael Jordan helped NIKE grow and promoted Jordan to global icon status, generating $200 million in annual sales for the company's signature line. In 1991 White was entrusted with coordinating NIKE’s entire NBA operations. Since then, White has been NIKE’s primary liaison for several NBA and NFL superstars including Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, and Deion Sanders.
About Chris Tucker
Chris Tucker is an American stand-up comedian and actor who made his debut as a stand-up performer on the HBO comedy series Def Comedy Jam in the 1990s. At one point, he was one of the highest-paid Hollywood stars and acted in movies like Friday, The Fifth Element, Money Talks, and Jackie Brown.
He was last seen in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk in 2016. Tucker is returning to the screens after a long time with Ben Affleck's Air and fans are excited to see him in action again when the film gets a theatrical release in the United States on April 5, 2023.
The stellar cast of Air also includes Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Marlon Wayans, and Chris Messina.
