Before the premiere of the fourth film in the series. john wick On March 22 in France, actor Keanu Reeves talks to AFP about his love for action movies, which he sees almost “like a classical ballet”, and for Paris, where this new work was filmed.
“I like good action movies,” explains the star who carries the success of this saga on his shoulders. At 58, Keanu Reeves, long hair and slim figure, impeccable black suit, considers John Wick one of the two most significant roles of his career. With Neo, the “chosen one” of the saga Matrixwhose first work marked science fiction at the beginning of the 21st century.
John Wick, after The Matrix
The actor was then 35 years old and looked younger in My own private Idaho with his accomplice River Phoenix, who died shortly after, or in the action movie Speed with Sandra Bullock.
“When I was young, the role in ‘The Matrix’ was a wonderful experience that changed my life. john wick He is also older, in his fifties”, sums up Keanu Reeves, who shot this fourth work with Chad Stahelski, his double and ex-double, who became a director.
The taste of “old-fashioned” action
After years of trumping Marvel and superhero movies, Keanu Reeves still wants to believe in “old school” action movies on the big screen.
Telling the story of a widowed murderer who comes out of retirement to avenge the death of his dog, John Wick has “a darker influence. We use digital technologies but I think we prefer things in the flesh, the visceral celebration.” of bodily movement and violence, almost like a ballet,” he says.
Filming in Paris, “a dream”
For this fourth work, Keanu Reeves returned to filming in Paris, a city where he had already visited the sets 35 years ago, to dangerous liaisons by Stephen Frears.
From the City of Light, the man in the dark suit travels without putting away the cartridges of postcard landscapes, from the Trocadéro to the Estrella roundabout, for a long scene of fighting against the flow of traffic that is furiously reminiscent of the performance of Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 6. Not to mention a scene on the Porte des Lilas metro platform.
“Playing in Paris again has always been a dream for me. It’s incredible to be back,” explains Keanu Reeves. “To be able to go, for John Wick: Chapter 4filming in front of the Sacré-Coeur, on the steps of Montmartre, in the canals under the city, in the streets, filming at night, all of that was very special.”
On Friday, the night of the film’s Parisian premiere at the Grand Rex, the American actor also confided in BFMTV about the pleasure of filming in the capital, “because of the energy of this city, because of the architecture, because of its history.”
Defenestration, nunchaku fights, falls down countless stairs… Keanu Reeves, known for playing a large part of the action scenes himself, can you imagine that he will soon reach the age where he will no longer be able to shoot this type of film?
“I’m getting close!” he jokes before adding: “Are we reaching a limit? I don’t know.”
Source: BFM TV
