Aziz Ansari reveals why he loves filming in New York
“Master of None” star Aziz Ansari earned the Made In New York prize at Monday’s Gotham Awards -- and with good reason.
Ansari -- who also won an Emmy alongside co-creator Alan Yang for their Netflix series -- expounded on his love of New York City-based production during his lengthy, punchline-filled acceptance speech at the awards ceremony.
“You guys know how boring it is to shoot somewhere and have zero chance of ruining a take because someone is urinating? Or someone is yelling, ‘Aziz!’ in the middle of a long one-ner?” he said from the stage.
“When Alan Yang and I first talked about creating the show, years ago, we were in Los Angeles shooting the show ‘Parks and Recreation,’ and we were talking about the television show we wanted to do,” he explained. “We only wanted to do 10 episodes -- no more -- and I wanted to shoot the show in New York.”
Ansari also pointed out that the sheer number of other TV productions in the city makes life in New York better.
“You know how great it is to be able to walk around the city, and if you get hungry, steal craft services from ‘Mr. Robot?’” he said. “You know how many bags of chips I’ve taken from ‘Mr. Robot’ and ‘Blue Bloods?’ Only the Sun Chips. Tom Selleck is looking for French Onion Sun Chips, and he can’t find them.”
Ansari pointed out a connection to the city that gave the award an extra sense of personal significance, as he credits his career in entertainment to his decision to come to New York in 2000 to attend New York University.
“This is the Made in New York Award, and I really do feel like I was made in New York,” he said. “If I did not move here, I would not have this career that I have, that I love and that excites me every day, and I really do feel like I owe it all to the city of New York.”