Aziz Ansari’s feature directorial debut Good Fortune stars Keanu Reeves as a fictional angel watching over a struggling gig worker, but judging by his emotional speech at the film’s world premiere, the Parks and Recreation alum might’ve found his own angel on Earth in his wife, Serena Skov Campbell.
The writer-director-star and Reeves introduced the Seth Rogen-starring film Saturday night at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Ansari then broke down in tears while telling the audience about his wife’s support as he worked to bring the comedy to the big screen. (See video above.)
“I also want to thank my wonderful wife Serena who, uh, I’m sorry,” Ansari said, fighting back tears before he called her “so wonderful” to the sound of applause from the crowd at the city’s Roy Thomson Hall.
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Ansari continued, adding that his wife “read the script before Seth or anybody, and would sit next to me in bed and read scenes with me,” before he lowered his head to his hands and cried.
“This is so bad. This is so embarrassing. This is so bad,” the 42-year-old said, before composing himself and continuing with his introduction while Reeves stood behind him.
“But, she’s so wonderful. You make a movie like this or any movie, a lot of times you’re away from home, and I was gone a lot for this,” Ansari remembered. “We had to stop for the strike, I had to prep the movie twice, so I was away from home a lot. I got her some jewelry the other day and she’s not mad. She’ll probably be mad because of what I just said!”
Ansari married Campbell in 2022. She works as a forensic data scientist, according to a Page Six report from their wedding in Italy.
The couple first met in 2018, and were first photographed together in September of that year, according to the outlet.
Good Fortune marks Ansari’s feature directorial debut, following the shelving of his prior attempt at a first-time directing gig. Production on the star’s prior film, Being Mortal, was suspended by Searchlight Pictures in 2022 after a staffer filed a complaint against actor Bill Murray, alleging inappropriate behavior.
Murray eventually addressed the allegations but didn’t go into further detail about the staffer’s complaint. “I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way,” the actor told CNBC at the time. “The company, the movie studio, wanted to do the right thing, so they wanted to check it all out, investigate it, and so they stopped the production.”
“But as of now, we’re talking and we’re trying to make peace with each other,” he added. “We’re both professionals. We like each other’s work… and if you can’t really get along and trust each other, there’s no point in going further working together or making a movie as well.”
Eddy Chen/Lionsgate
Back in 2018, Ansari landed in some hot water himself when an anonymous accuser publicly alleged that a date with the Master of None stat left her feeling “violated” and “pressured” to engage in sexual activity with him. The comedian maintained at the time that it was “completely consensual” and that he was “surprised and concerned” to learn in a text message the next day that the woman “felt uncomfortable” with the alleged actions.
Ansari was criticized for not offering a public apology, though the comedian recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he “apologized to the person personally” when the allegation was made public.
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Good Fortune follows Reeves as an angel, Gabriel, tasked by his boss, Martha (Sandra Oh), with stopping humans from dying while texting and driving. He then becomes engrossed in the daily life of a houseless gig worker, Arj (Ansari), who takes on an exciting prospect as the assistant to a wealthy tech bro, Jeff (Rogen), while juggling a budding romance with a former colleague (Keke Palmer). Gabriel then meddles in their lives, soul-swapping Jeff and Arj’s lives so each has a chance to live the other’s experience.
The film will be released theatrically Oct. 17 via Lionsgate. Watch Ansari break down in tears over his wife in the video at the top of this post.
