Donnie Yen has been a superstar on the Hong Kong film circuit for a long time, particularly through the Ip Man film series, but the last half decade has seen him building a Hollywood profile through movies like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, XXX: Return of Xander Cage and Mulan. Now he’s is hard at work on John Wick: Chapter 4, and while it stands to reason that the next entry in the franchise should be just as cool, if not more so, than its predecessors, it’s clear the night shoots have been hard on Yen.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is a little over a month into principal photography, and Donnie Yen went on Instagram to share an update on how filming is coming along. Only rather than getting a sneak peek of Yen during a scene he was shooting or even a behind-the-scenes snapshot of him, we see his exhausted state in the aftermath of whatever he was working on hours earlier.
A delicious meal, pleasant environment and good music can only do so much with improving one’s mood when you’ve spent the night before acting in a major motion picture that’s packed with fights and stunts. With that sort of schedule for John Wick: Chapter 4, it’s no wonder Donnie Yen is tired. Nevertheless, even with so little sleep, Yen noted that he’s thinking about how he can “refine” his performance for the next night’s shoot. So nobody question this man’s work ethic!
Donnie Yen was announced to be joining John Wick: Chapter 4 in early June, and while his character still hasn’t been identified yet, this individual is reportedly an old friend of Keanu Reeves’ John who “shares his same history and many of the same enemies.” While Yen has acknowledged that it’s been hard being away from his family to work on Chapter 4, it sounds like he’s been enjoying his time on the production. It’s unclear how much more Yen has to shoot before his time on Chapter 4 is over, but I wouldn’t fault him for wanting to take a few days off to recover from the nighttime filming.
The other newcomers who have been brought aboard for John Wick: Chapter 4 include Rina Sawayama, Shamier Anderson, Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada, Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror. As with Donnie Yen, it hasn’t been revealed yet who any of these actors are playing. As far as familiar faces go, Keanu Reeve’s John Wick will be accompanied by Ian McShane’s Winston, Lance Reddick’s Charon and Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King. Behind the scenes, Chad Stahelski once again sat in the director’s chair for Chapter 4, and Shay Hatten and Michael Finch wrote the script.
John Wick: Chapter 4 opens in theaters on May 27, 2022. Learn what other movies are primed for next year with our 2022 release schedule.
