John Wick, John Constantine, Don John, and so on, interestingly, Johns have been an interesting aspect throughout Keanu Reeves’ three-decade-long career. Since the ’90s, The Matrix Star has played a character named John in a total of ten films, including the John Wick franchise, which remains his most notable work after his success as Neo back in ’99.
But while John Wick is one of the most popular characters Reeves has portrayed on the silver screen, it isn’t necessarily his best John, as that title belongs to the one that kickstarted it all.
Keanu Reeves Owes His Action Career to Johnny Utah
Released in 1991, Point Break changed Keanu Reeves‘ perception as an actor among general audiences, as he was priorly known for playing the stoner Ted in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Playing the rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah, the Constantine Star excels in the role and even his occasional bits of overacting completely sat well with the narrative crafted by Kathryn Bigelow.
While the central plot revolves around undercover FBI agents infiltrating a bank robbery, past the surface level Point Break has got something for everyone, including bromance, high-speed heist, romance, etc. Reeves also succeeds in injecting an emotional throughline into his character, which makes up for an impactful arc. Furthermore, Reeves played the character, who is playing two characters, following the undercover cop storyline to perfection, which deservingly kickstarted his ascend in action.
Kathryn Bigelow Stood Aside Keanu Reeves After Producers Found His Casting Off
Although Keanu Reeves garnered notable fame after the success of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, he was far from being the action star who could score a kill count in triple digits onscreen. And it was Point Break that pushed his career to that route, even though the producers were skeptical about Reeves leading the action-flick. But he eventually bagged the role thanks to director Kathryn Bigelow, who stood her ground about starring Reeves in the lead. The Matrix Star shared (via Nerdist Podcast),
“For me, specifically on that, I hadn’t been in an action genre picture. So Kathryn Bigelow, as the story’s told, really had to fight to have me play that role. The studio went, ‘Keanu Reeves? Johnny Utah? Action movie?’ Kathryn went, ‘Yes.’ They were like, ‘What are you thinking?’ ‘He’s the guy.’”
With John Wick 5 on the cards and Constantine 2 in development, Reeves’ run as John onscreen seems far from over, and fans couldn’t be happier.
Point Break is available to stream on Peacock.
