By now you may have heard that Aziz Ansari’s real-life mom and dad act alongside him as his TV parents in his new Netflix series, Master of None. They steal the show, in fact, and you can tell Aziz is eating it up, because last night he shared the Late Show With Stephen Colbert stage with his dad. It’s pretty adorable, and afterwards, Aziz told a little backstory that makes the whole thing even better:
My dad took off most of his vacation time for the year to act in Master of None. So I’m really relieved this all worked out. Tonight after we did Colbert together he said: “This is all fun and I liked acting in the show, but I really just did it so I could spend more time with you.” I almost instantly collapsed into tears at the thought of how much this person cares about me and took care of me and gave me everything to give me the amazing life I have.
You can read the rest of his anecdote in the Instagram caption below, but that part in particular melted my heart. Aziz goes on to say that he’s been “overwhelmed” by the response the episode from Master of None that focuses on his parents has gotten, and that working with them has only strengthened their relationship. It doesn’t hurt that Dr. and Mrs. Ansari absolutely kill it.
Not everyone has a TV series to write their parents into, but that little story is relatable in a broader sense. I think there comes a point in a lot of people’s lives when they realize that their parents are secretly awesome, and that they actually want to hang out with them by choice. Meanwhile, lots of dads will take any chance to spend time with us, whatever the venue. A dad that will do anything just to hang out with his kid—even sacrifice most of his free time? That’s a very good dad.
Image via Netflix