Hollywood star Keanu Reeves became a bonafide action star with the sci-fi thriller series The Matrix. The Speed actor played a computer programmer named Neo who fights a dystopian war against machines in a virtual world. The Matrix and its sequels went on to become pioneers in the sci-fi genre, while also making Reeves one of the most bankable and successful action stars in the industry.
Neo, who is known for his extreme physical strength and abilities, became such a part of the actor that fans began to believe that Reeves himself was invincible like his character. But the celebrity shattered this illusion by showing that he was as normal and vulnerable as the next person, when he elaborated on a grave accident that he suffered on the sets of his latest comedy with Seth Rogen.
Keanu Reeves’ Injury On The Sets Of His Latest Film Proves That He’s Human After All
While Tom Cruise’s daredevil stunts in his films arguably make him the bonafide king of action in Hollywood, Keanu Reeves isn’t far behind. The Speed actor has proved that he has what it takes to be an action superstar with his presence in two blockbuster franchises, namely The Matrix and John Wick.
With Neo from The Matrix, Reeves carved out a character who was powerful and intimidating, and immersed himself in the role fully. The protagonist is known to have superhuman strength that sees him smash through walls, and an unassailable speed that he uses to expertly dodge and stop the barrage of bullets aimed at him.
In addition, the character also possesses the power of supersonic flight and most importantly, an almost invincible quality that makes him extremely hard to take down. The Devil’s Advocate actor embodied all these qualities to such perfection that fans could not separate him from his role. But Reeves tore down this cloak of invincibility when he showed that he was definitely not Neo, but a vulnerable human like anyone else around him.
The actor has completely changed gears for his next film which is a comedy titled Good Fortune directed by Aziz Ansari and co-starring Seth Rogen. Ironically, after being part of many dangerous stunts in his films, the celebrity ended up having a rather horrific injury at the most unlikely juncture on the sets of this film.
In an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Reeves narrated the lead-up to this accident which unfortunately landed him in crutches. The scene involved him, Ansari, and Rogen taking a cold dip outdoors. The actor, who had his bathing suit and a towel wrapped around him, walked into a bedroom that had thick carpets on the floor. Unfortunately, his leg got caught in one of the indentations of the carpets, which sent him hurtling down.
I was like, my arms came out, but my knee failed… my patella, my kneecap cracked like a potato chip. But I didn’t know that. Comedy is hard man!
Following his explanation of an injury which actually turned out to be a rather serious one, Reeves and Colbert both shared hearty laughs about the fact that, out of all the places, the actor had hurt himself on the sets of a comedy film.
Even Keanu Reeves Struggled While Doing Action In This Film
Keanu Reeves is popular not just for his arresting personality, but also for his flair for action in his films. The star has been known to do his own stunts in many of his projects including The Matrix series and the John Wick franchise. But courting danger did not come naturally to him by his own confession. Reeves recalled a memorable scene from his cult film Speed in which his cop character had to jump from a Jaguar to a moving bus.
This extremely well-executed sequence, which was thrilling to watch on screen, proved to be a very challenging one for the actor. It was ultimately performed by a stuntman for the final take. But Reeves, after some convincing, tried to perform the movement himself during rehearsals. Remembering the adrenaline rush, the celebrity elaborated on the details of the scene (via Huffington Post).
The shot in the film is a stuntman, but I got to do it once. The stunt coordinator Gary Hymes really took care of me and came up with inventive ways of putting me in those situations. Through harnessing, he got me under the bus at 30 mph.
Despite the reluctance in his initial days to try his own stunts, the love for action grew on Keanu Reeves as time went on, which resulted in the actor doing many of his own action sequences in his future films.
