‘John Wick’ directors recall fighting to keep Keanu Reeves’s signature look
- By Web Desk -
- Oct 22, 2024
The directors of “John Wick,” starring Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves, have revealed a surprising argument they had with the financers over his beard.
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Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, who kickstarted the action franchise with 2014’s ‘John Wick,’ opened up on the hurdles they faced to launch the Keanu Reeves-led franchise.
Stahelski revealed that the financiers of the film wanted Reeves to be clean-shaven like his characters in “Point Break,” “Speed” and “The Matrix.”
“We were trying to do a modern-day Greek mythology fantasy movie. That’s not mainstream. So we wanted to do something cool with Keanu. But the money people, they wanted to see Keanu Reeves. ‘Point Break’ Keanu, ‘Speed’ Keanu. And I don’t know if this exists anymore, but at the time we were told by the powers that be you don’t cover up your leading man’s face with a beard,” he added.
According to Chad Stahelski, the team of ‘John Wick’ copped a lot of heat for refusing to have Keanu Reeves shave.
“We felt you can’t fire us, so first day of shooting, we had Keanu in the beard, and later that week, when they watched the dailies, with cinematographer Jonathan Sela’s now famous half-light shots, people f–king loved it,” Stahelski stated.
Read more: John Wick 5: Chad Stahelski says fifth movie will be different
Consequently, the directors succeeded in keeping the Hollywood actor’s beard which became one of the signature components of John Wick’s look.
David Leitch recalled facing resistance over the inclusion of the death scene of Wick’s dog, which kicks off the entire saga of the action franchise.
“We were told, ‘It’s bad luck.’ ‘It’s bad juju.’ ‘It’s ‘Old Yeller,’ you can’t do this!’ ‘No one will want to see this on screen; you’re going to alienate the audience.’ And I’m like, ‘We’re going to execute people at close range; killing the dog is one thing, but what about the brutal massacre of all these human beings? Are they going to be able to accept that?’” he said.