The Air I Breathe is a 2008 crime drama romance film and the directional debut from Korean-American filmmaker Jieho Lee, who co-wrote the script with Bob DeRosa. It stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Brendan Fraser, Cecilia Suárez, Clark Gregg, Emile Hirsch, Forest Whitaker, John Cho, Julie Delpy, Kelly Hu, Kevin Bacon and Andy Garcia. The film was financed by NALA Investments through its production company NALA Films. The film was released on January 25th 2008 in the US .
The concept of the film is based on an ancient Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four emotional cornerstones - Happiness (played by Whitaker), Pleasure (Fraser), Sorrow (Gellar) and Love (Bacon). The proverb speaks of these emotions, not as isolated fragments of feelings, but as elements that make up the whole of the human existence. Each of the four main protagonists is based on one of the four emotions; and like the proverb their paths are inextricably linked to each other.
Mexican actress Claudia Soberón auditioned for a supporting role.
