The John Wick films are arguably the best modern action movies around. The fight sequences are lovingly crafted into some of the best action the cinema has ever seen. Keanu Reeves has to go through some pretty intense training to be able to pull them off, which he says as literally led to him throwing up, but he doesn’t seem to mind.
It’s hard to believe that the original John Wick is 10 years old, but 10th-anniversary screenings of the movie took place over the weekend, including one at the AMC Century City in Los Angeles that included a conversation (via People) with stars Keanu Reeves and Ian McShane alongside director Chad Stahelski and producer Erica Lee. Reeves was asked about how hard he was pushed to play John Wick and he revealed that he was pushed so hard that it made him puke, apparently more than once. Yet, he sees it as a good thing because of who he gets to work with. Reeves said…
I had so many wonderful teachers and guidance and worked with so many talented actors, actresses and stunt people in the sense of it's such a dance and collaboration and cooperation. So there's a couple of times where you throw up or puke or whatever, but that's what makes it good!
Leave it to Keanu Reeves to just downplay the idea that sometimes when putting your body through the stunt work for a movie it might just make you vomit. He actually called the experience a “gift” which is not how I would describe losing my lunch but he was talking about all the talented people he gets to work with. Apparently throwing up a couple of times is a small price to pay.
When a new John Wick movie goes into production we often get behind-the-scenes videos of Keanu Reeves training for the various action sequences he’ll news to do. They are certainly extreme, but obviously, if he’s ever thrown up while going through it all, the videos never show us that.
Still, it’s maybe not too surprising that, especially during the prep for the first John Wick, Keanu Reeves got pushed harder than he’d ever been before. While making a sequel, the actor knows what he’s going for, but he probably had no clue what he was going to have to put his body through for the original John Wick. Keanu Reeves had made some great movies before, but nothing quite like John Wick.
Reeves thinks it’s all worth it. If he has to throw up a couple of times, then it’s a small price to pay for creating such incredible action on screen alongside all the people who helped him do it. As a massive fan of the John Wick movies, I can’t disagree.
Keanu Reeves will appear as John Wick again in the new Ballerina spinoff movie though it's unclear if he'll ever need to put himself through such an ordeal for a new John Wick movie down the road.
