It goes without saying that Keanu Reeves is one of the nicest blokes in Hollywood. Since his debut in showbiz back in the late ’80s, there have been several stories about The Matrix star being an upstanding dude, and the consensus isn’t looking to change anytime soon if ever.
Winona Ryder, who shares a long history with Reeves and even is married in the eyes of the Romanian church, recalled one such story about the actor. During their time together on Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, Ryder revealed Reeves went against the director’s request to protect her.
Keanu Reeves Went Against Francis Ford Coppola’s Request in Dracula
Francis Ford Coppola is known for going to extreme lengths with his films and doesn’t shy away from pushing actors to their limits to get the most authentic performance. Winona Ryder experienced it first-hand during her tenure in Coppola’s Dracula, which starred Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves. During the bed scene with Oldman, off-camera, Coppola asked the rest of the cast to verbally abuse the actress in order to make her cry for the scene.
But while The Godfather director was shouting “You wh-re! You wh-re!” to make Ryder cry, Reeves, alongside Hopkins refused to indulge.
To put it in context I’m supposed to be crying. Literally, Richard E. Grant, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu… Francis was trying to get all of them to yell things that would make me cry. But Keanu wouldn’t, Anthony wouldn’t… the more it happened, I was like… It just didn’t work. I was, like, really? It kind of did the opposite.
Fortunately, the Megalopolis director and the Beetlejuice star are “good now”, and as for Reeves, their experience in Dracula embarked them on a lifelong friendship, which is still going strong.
Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves Are Technically Married
Since their time together on Dracula, Ryder and Reeves went on to collaborate on three more films, which involved A Scanner Darkly, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, and Destination Wedding. But while the two remain very good friends, in the eyes of the Romanian Catholic, Ryder revealed the duo are husband and wife.
Following Coppola’s dedication to making everything as authentic as possible, the filmmaker brought an actual Roman priest to shoot the master shot.
We actually got married in Dracula. No, I swear to God, I think we’re married in real life. In that scene, Francis used a real Romanian priest. We shot the master [shot] and he did the whole thing. So I think we’re married.
The two continue to make lighthearted jokes about their marriage in Dracula, with Ryder even playfully referring to the John Wick star as husband.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is available to stream on Netflix.
