John Wick: The directors struggled to maintain this crucial element of the character

Do not touch the dog or his beard

As the John Wick saga celebrates its tenth anniversary, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, co-directors of the first film released in 2014, have reunited to ensure Company interior a nice interview. Among the various topics covered, the two directors mentioned a point of conflict they had with the studios, a detail that proves to be as surprising as it is instructive.

David Leitch tells it, when they were very close to starting filming John Wickhave received this requirement: that John Wick shaves his beard. In fact, what for its creators is a constitutive element of his character seemed to be an obstacle to the international distribution of the film. For the studies, and as reported by David Leitch, Keanu Reeves had to “be clean shaven for international !”

The directors held firm

For that? Because at the time, after a series of failures, Keanu Reeves had a popularity built on his roles Breaking point, Speed and the Matrix saga. Or movies where their characters are perfectly hairless. Without a beard his age is less marked. And Keanu Reeves is thus more recognizable and identifiable.

Chad Stahelski explained:

We were trying to do a sort of modern Greek mythology. It’s not mainstream. And we wanted to do something interesting with Keanu. (…) And I don’t know if this is still the case, but at the time they told us that we shouldn’t cover the main actor’s face with a beard.

The director later said that, believing that they could not be fired, they began filming John Wick with a bearded Keanu Reeves and that, when the producers saw the first rushes, “they loved it“.

Having now become a very profitable and very popular saga, the John Wick universe has four main films, a series and a spin-off with Ana de Armas scheduled for June 4, 2025. And this thanks to all its differences and this desire to make no compromises – including this appearance directly inspired by 1970s American noir films and mythological characters – so that success continues to be there.

Source: Cine Serie

Ray

Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.