Keanu Reeves is widely recognized for his roles in action franchises such as John Wick and The Matrix, and as far as everyone knows, he’s great at playing the hero. Apparently, the actor’s best performance was not from any of the movies where he portrayed the good guy.
Reeves as a villain seems like a novel idea for many, and the actor hasn’t done a lot of antagonist roles in his career. In one of the underrated projects he did with Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, he portrayed the abusive husband.
Keanu Reeves Shares Preparation For His Epic Role In The Gift
In an old interview with Keanu Reeves for the promo and premiere of 2000’s The Gift via Keanu Video Archive on YouTube, he shared how he mentally and emotionally prepared for the role of Donnie Barksdale.
In making up the story for who he is, I went and saw some psychologists who deal with spousal abuse, and I haven’t had the experiences that my character might have had, you know. I was being molested or abused, physically abused or emotionally abused.
The character that Reeves had to play was the total opposite of who he is in real life. Even though it’s just a fictional character, it’s easier to play a role that one can justify and root for.
For this movie, even though Reeves found it quite difficult to embrace the values of the character he was portraying, he still had a great time.
I can certainly relate to the feelings that could create powerlessness, you know, self-worth, and so I can personalize that. I mean, for me, it was fun to create that part and try to manifest Donnie Barksdale.
The actor described the film as “extraordinary and provocative and interesting and shows and poses some great questions.” The disturbing themes and scenes in the movie are not exactly as fun to watch as it is with John Wick or The Matrix.
Keanu Reeves Couldn’t Punch His Female Costars
As if playing an abusive husband was already rough on Keanu Reeves, he also found it difficult to perform some scenes that involved violence against women.
The actor is widely celebrated for being the gentleman that he is, and acting against his own philosophy is definitely a lot of mental work. In his interview with Acción via Showbiz CheatSheet:
In the scenes with Hillary Swank, there were safety devices; when I pulled her hair, there was a small handle inside it. I could grasp it and act by making violent expressions. It was disturbing to play that role. I don’t practice physical violence, so that, to me, was very difficult.
He also found it challenging to hit costar Cate Blanchett. Even though it was just play pretend, Reeves couldn’t punch her in the stomach. The actress was game enough to perform the scene so they eventually pulled it off.
The Gift is available to watch on Prime Video.
