Q&A: Aziz Ansari on parents, censors and revealing his softer side

TORONTO – Aziz Ansari mines his own life for material in his new Netflix comedy, “Master of None,” so why not invite his parents to play versions of themselves, too?

The standup star plays Dev, a character not entirely dissimilar from himself: a first-generation Indian-American who is also an actor in New York and continually perplexed by challenges in dating, building a career, dealing with relatives and his wide circle of friends.

Ansari’s parents further blur the line by recounting real-life experiences in their roles as Dev’s folks — in one episode, his father recounts an actual traumatic childhood memory while his mother lifts the curtain on her upsetting first days in the United States as an immigrant and new bride.

But in most other respects, “Master of None” is clearly a scripted venture. After all, the struggling Dev has little more than commercials under his belt.

Ansari, meanwhile, is a standup giant, a successful author, and a bonafide film and TV star, thanks to indelible roles in NBC’s defunct “Parks and Recreation” and Judd Apatow’s “Funny People.”

When it came time to find a new small screen venture he could sink his teeth into, Ansari says returning to network television was out of the question. He and partner Alan Yang, a writer from “Parks and Rec,” were keen to explore all aspects of modern life.

“There’s no way we could have done that show on NBC — there’s way too much boning and cursing,” Ansari says of “Master of None,” which debuted Friday.

Reaching him recently by phone in New York, The Canadian Press chatted with Ansari about censors, working with his parents and revealing his softer side.

The Canadian Press: So you direct, produce, star and write “Master of None.” What made you think, “I’m going to do it all”?

Ansari: I really wanted to do this because I hadn’t had the opportunity to act in something that really felt like my comedic point of view. And I think when you’re an actor you can’t just sit around and wait for someone to write a thing that you’re like, “Oh, that’s what I want to do!” No, just go out and just write what you want to do. And so that’s what I did.

CP: And was Netflix the automatic partner for you?

Ansari: I had worked with them on my standup specials and had a good relationship. And when we pitched the idea of doing a show to them, they just responded immediately and said, ‘Yeah, we’re in. Do 10 episodes.’ There was no pilot or anything, they just really believed in us and supported us so I don’t think you can ask for a better partner than that.

CP: Does Netflix offer more creative freedom than cable?

Ansari: With cable you still have to deal with standards and practices stuff. If you watch some of the episodes I’m sure there would have been stuff we would have had to fight to get on. To make a show that you’re creatively proud of, and can get behind, is very hard. To do that and then have to jump through another set of hoops for standards and practices or for network notes or whatever, that seems like not a fun gig to me. And I’m used to doing standup where you don’t really deal with anybody. You just make your thing, give it to them and you’re done.

CP: I loved seeing your parents, what was it like working with them?

Ansari: It was great. What’s cool about casting people that are non-actors is sometimes they will give you performances that end up feeling very real and natural and I think that’s what happened with them.

CP: I like that it delves into first-generation family conflicts, which I don’t see a lot of on TV.

Ansari: Yeah, that was an episode that was really special to us because it did feel like something you don’t see often, if at all. And it’s a story that relates to so many people…. That was kind of based on my own experiences of realizing … oh, I don’t know a ton about my parents’ lives and the kind of sacrifices they made. And it’s pretty crazy that they were younger than I am and decided, “Hey, I’m going to move to America where I don’t know anybody or have anything.”

CP: And it’s very sweet. As raunchy as the show gets, I was surprised by the tender moments. How did you strike that balance?

Ansari: Tonally we were trying to make a show that was funny but also had some kind of emotional heft and dealt with (issues) — whether it’s that episode or the episode about race and entertainment, or the episode about sexism —we wanted to do episodes that had topics that we were passionate about.

CP: Did you have to clear topics with your parents first?

Ansari: We both sent the script to our parents. You what’s funny is that I think Alan’s dad got it and was like, “What? What is this? I have no interest.” It really (played into how he’s) so closed off, you know? But my parents, they read the script and they were like, “Oh, so this is, like, us!”

— This interview has been edited and condensed.