“When I first met him he’d had surgery”: Keanu Reeves Might be the Only Actor to Rival Tom Cruise in Sheer Dedication After What John Wick Director Revealed About Him

Keanu Reeves — monastic, immortal, wild, and intellectual — is an entity unto himself, a creature that has willed a kind of goodness into this world that defies the condition he was born into. Now held to a pedestal, Reeves refuses to be defined by the fame he has accrued through 50 years of his career, but never shrugs away the love and adoration from his fans.

In a generation defined by box office hitmakers and an era where profitability equates to survival in the movie business, Keanu Reeves hits the ground running with one franchise blockbuster after another. And yet, the actor remains honest about his roots, leaning more toward the Sad Keanu lifestyle than an actor pandering to red-carpet fan attractions.

Keanu Reeves Defines Himself By His Work

Keanu Reeves’ temperament has been a mythical subject, although his fame has held a more elusive fascination attached to it. So much so that former A-lister Charlie Sheen once famously quipped, “Emilio [Estevez] and I sit around and just scratch our heads thinking, ‘How did this guy get in? How does Keanu work with Coppola and Bertolucci and I don’t get a shot at that?’” That too, at a time when Sheen’s A-list status was paramount and uncontested in the industry.

Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bertolucci would go on to be just 2 names in a very long list of coveted filmmakers who worked with Keanu Reeves. This included the likes of Stephen Frears, Kenneth Branagh, Kathryn Bigelow, Gus Van Sant, Taylor Hackford, Francis Lawrence, and so on.

The actor has found himself at the turn of every decade, riding the wave of pop culture evolution and surfing through genres ranging from the indie sensations of the 90s (My Own Private Idaho) to action sagas (Speed), pioneering the sci-fi craze and noir comic book phenomenon of the early 2000s (The Matrix, Constantine) before reaching for his gun-fu masterpiece, John Wick.

John Wick Director Gets Candid About His Muse

When Chad Stahelski first met Keanu Reeves, it was on the sets of the Wachowski duo’s The Matrix. He was perhaps among the lucky few who were personally gifted with a Harley-Davidson for pulling off an incredibly complex stunt involving several Mr. Smiths in the film.

So naturally, when John Wick came around and Reeves took it upon himself to rephrase the script to do the story justice, Stahelski was more than elated to witness the master at work. Speaking of the actor’s work ethic in a profile interview with Esquire, the stuntman-turned-filmmaker said:

Keanu’s all or nothing. He’s willing to give up six months of his time to train for a role. Some people would try and get another film in, or work two. When I first met him, he’d had surgery and he was doing kung-fu in this big, cold warehouse with a neck brace on. I knew he was a serious guy. That set the standard for the rest of our relationship.

For Reeves, on the other hand, the term work ethic is simply an alternate definition of Tuesday. To him, dedicating himself to a role months prior to filming doesn’t amount to a task. Rather, “It’s part of the pleasure of [filmmaking]. I don’t have anything better to do! I have nothing going on! I have no life! It’s just going to work and preparation.” As simple as that!

The first three John Wick films are available to stream on Peacock.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is available to buy/rent on Prime Video.