Viola Davis on Michael Jordan wanting her to play his mother: 'You're flattered at first, the next second is the pressure'

"Air" won't open in theaters until next week, but it already seems like moviegoers have been talking about it forever. Ben Affleck's sports drama about Nike's pursuit of Michael Jordan is already one of the hottest movies of the spring thanks to strong early reviews and a few viral trivia about the making of the film. Much has been said about Affleck's story about visiting Michael Jordan to discuss the script, where the basketball legend basically demanded that Affleck choose Viola Davis as his mother, Deloris Jordan.

"There's a line for the mother character in the movie at this point - and I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, he wants me to give this to Viola Davis. How am I going to give Viola Davis a movie with a line? That's not going to happen," Affleck recently said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "But he was like, 'That's my mom.' He was very serious. “Viola Davis is my mother. And that was it. The discussion was over. Either way, it wasn't his problem, but it was going to happen. And I was like, 'OK, Mike.' "

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The story is testament to Davis' pedigree as an actress (and, frankly, Jordan's good taste in movies). But many fans began to wonder how Davis reacted to arguably the greatest athlete of all time's request that she play her mother. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Davis recalled the surreal experience that led to her casting.

"You know, you're flattered at first, then the next second is the pressure," Davis said. "[Pressure] to play the woman who is basically the orchestrator of this great athlete's life, you know?"

Once the initial shock wore off, Davis said her admiration for Jordan's mother only grew as she dug into the role.

"Obviously she was so influential and then I watch videos of her and if you've ever seen videos of Deloris Jordan, she's amazing, she really is," Davis said. "Because she's one of those, you know, she's one of those people where you're like, 'Where did this talent come from? Where did this vision come from?'"

“Air” hits theaters on Wednesday, April 5.

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