Keanu Reeves Details Gruesome John Wick Set Accidents

The John Wick movies are chock-full of stunts involving guns, knives, and cars, and star Keanu Reeves now reveals that twice during filming a stunt person sustained relatively serious injuries. After the surprise success of the first movie in 2016, the John Wick franchise has only grown in popularity. All the movies in the franchise are renowned for their carefully choreographed ruthless yet balletic action sequences, and Reeves’ now shares that some of the action got a little too real on several occasions.

In a recent interview with ComicBook.com ahead of the John Wick: Chapter 4 release, Reeves shares two accidents that occurred on set while filming the hit franchise. Although it’s obvious from what ends up on screen that minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises are probably commonplace for Reeves and all the stunt performers, there were two occasions when things got a little more serious. Check out Reeves’ full comment below:

“Well I mean everyone is pretty tired – but it’s the best kind of tired. It’s like you climbed a mountain now you’re resting; like you finished the game and you won. So in terms of accidents: I made a mistake once – I cut a gentleman’s head open. So that really f***ing sucked (excuse my language). But other than that – oh, one guy got hit by a car. He was in the car, so he had to go to the hospital, but he was okay.”

How The John Wick Franchise Takes Action To The Next Level

The first John Wick was made on a relatively small budget, but quickly captured audiences’ attention due to its unique action filmmaking style. Taking cues from Asian action cinema where there is less of a reliance on quick cuts and shakey cam to convey action, John Wick puts Reeves’ hero front and center. Reeves underwent months of John Wick training for the role, learning how to shoot, drive, and fight, allowing him to do many of his own stunts.

Led by director Chad Stahelski, a former stunt performer himself (and Reeves’ double on The Matrix, no less), the action design ethos of the first John Wick was pushed even further for each subsequent sequel. With a bigger budget, Reeves engaged in more training and each movie sees him take on increasing numbers of enemies in increasingly creative ways. Outside of the John Wick franchise’s signature “gun fu” action, the assassin also dispatches enemies with his car, knives, his bare hands, and, on at least one occasion, a pencil.

Because so much of the action involves hand-to-hand fighting, falls, and car-drifting in real locations, there is, unfortunately, a higher likelihood that injuries will occur. Plus, as Reeves suggests, accidents are more likely to happen after he and the John Wick stunt team are worn out after engaging in strenuous stunt activity for hours on end. That being said, only two accidents in almost 10 years of making the movies isn’t a terrible track record, and it’s clear that whatever is going on behind the scenes of the John Wick movies is working wonders for audiences.

Source: ComicBook.com