"John Wick: Chapter 4" stars Keanu Reeves (John Wick), Laurence Fishburne (Bowery King), Lance Reddick (Charon), Ian McShane (Winston), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shimazu), Shamier Anderson (Tracker) and director Chad Stahelski discuss the latest "John Wick" film in this interview with CinemaBlend's Asst. Managing Editor Eric Eisenberg. Topics include the most intense "John Wick 4" stunts, Ana De Armas in the upcoming "John Wick" spinoff “Ballerina,” and even how Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt would stand up against John Wick. Plus, we tried to get something about "Constantine 2" out of Keanu Reeves.
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00:00 - Why don't we just go out and have a drink at a bar?
00:02 - That got you!
00:03 (laughing)
00:04 - No!
00:04 - I have a stare fetish, in case you didn't get that
00:06 from all the other movies.
00:07 - That moment, I'm left with kinda,
00:09 "F***, really?"
00:10 - It's like, "Ah, oh my gosh!"
00:13 - And so it begins.
00:14 (upbeat music)
00:17 - Well, speaking of just punishing sequences,
00:21 the one that I really wanna ask you about
00:23 is the staircase sequence in this one,
00:25 because, my God, like, that is--
00:27 - It's banana cakes.
00:27 - That's a lot of stairs, man.
00:28 - Yeah.
00:29 - I didn't get to do that.
00:30 I had a wonderful stunt man.
00:32 - Well, but I mean, you're still going up those stairs.
00:34 - Oh, no, no, no, don't get me wrong.
00:36 There was a lot, I did like 90% of it,
00:39 but there's a stair fall that was professional.
00:42 - Sure.
00:43 - But yeah, that was very intense.
00:46 - The other sequence I'll ask about is the Arc de Triomphe,
00:49 and just being surrounded by all those cars.
00:50 I mean, are you taking those car hits, or again, is that--
00:54 - Those are trained professionals.
00:55 I'm throwing people into cars, I'm like, yeah.
00:59 So yeah, I'll leave that to the professionals.
01:02 - I have a stare fetish, in case you didn't get that
01:04 from all the other movies about throwing stunt guys.
01:06 It's either car hits or stairs, right?
01:07 I can't figure out why.
01:09 Or chopping things off hands, I don't know.
01:11 - It's very dynamic.
01:11 I mean, it is, yeah.
01:12 - It's something like a very stick motto, right?
01:14 So I think Keanu showed up on the first day
01:16 and showed up to the bottom
01:17 when he runs up, checks his watch,
01:18 and that's a real honest reaction.
01:20 He looks up, he's like, "Fuck."
01:23 I just think he actually realized, like,
01:24 oh, we're gonna spend the next two weeks here
01:26 running up and down.
01:27 It was pretty funny.
01:28 - How do you imagine their lives outside of this work?
01:31 Like, do you guys have, like, built backstories
01:33 for who they are outside of the assassin world?
01:36 - Oh yeah, I think Winston goes back
01:37 to his Eastside brownstone and plays a lot of Wagner.
01:41 - That guy, sure.
01:42 (laughing)
01:44 No, no, no.
01:45 - Because I was imagining, 'cause I imagined him--
01:47 - You didn't imagine they lived together.
01:48 Don't say they lived together.
01:49 - No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
01:50 But I mean, he goes back to the coolest loft in the world
01:55 and Jerome goes to, like, this really nice little apartment
01:59 and he's got some kind of pet
02:01 and he likes to watch Jeopardy.
02:03 - Sure. - Yeah, yeah.
02:04 - I mean, he definitely likes dogs.
02:06 He gets along with John's dogs, so yeah.
02:08 - Oh, I love that.
02:09 I like that idea, with Winston going back to his brown--
02:11 I never even asked him.
02:12 - Ah, making a cup of tea.
02:14 - Booking his hopney on the wall,
02:16 the one hopney on the wall,
02:17 then playing a bit of Parsifal, you know?
02:18 There you are.
02:19 - Well, it's canon now.
02:20 You said it.
02:21 I'm curious just how you kind of went about
02:23 filling in the gaps for yourself in his personal backstory.
02:26 - For me, what was the sort of defining
02:31 sort of characteristic of Bowery King
02:35 was when John Wick gets in trouble in that second movie
02:41 and everything looks like it's gonna go
02:43 right into the toilet,
02:44 and he pulls this marker out and he hands it to some guy,
02:48 and then suddenly you're in this underworld
02:52 that's underneath the Continental
02:55 and way underneath the high table.
02:57 You're like, "What's going on?"
03:01 That he is the safest when he's with the Bowery King.
03:08 Like, when he's with the Bowery King, he's completely safe.
03:11 That, for me, was sort of the defining thing.
03:18 - Man has to look his best when it's time to get married.
03:22 Or buried.
03:23 - When you have a character
03:24 who's introducing him to people as nobody,
03:26 do you have a certain extra feeling of responsibility
03:30 to figure out who this person is behind all the mystery?
03:33 - Of course, of course.
03:34 I think with any character,
03:35 you have to do a lot of research, for me at least.
03:38 And for this one, because I find he's one
03:40 of the most human characters in the franchise,
03:42 'cause he's the audience.
03:43 He's the guy coming in from the outside world
03:46 into their world.
03:47 And so what I told Chad was,
03:48 "What if the Tracker was studying every John Wick film
03:52 "as if it was a documentary?"
03:53 And so I built this whole backstory
03:55 that he was just a student,
03:57 and I would put photos of Keanu in my trailer
04:00 from the different John Wicks,
04:01 and it was like a timeline,
04:03 and this was the movie that Tracker
04:04 was gonna have his moment.
04:06 And then he'd go on to his next mission.
04:08 So that was kind of like a bit of a backstory
04:10 that I built for him, which was fun for me.
04:13 And obviously that doesn't make it on the screen,
04:15 but it helps anchor me,
04:16 and gives him those qualities that folks like you like.
04:20 - Well, now I'm gonna be just thinking,
04:22 every time I watch the first three,
04:23 I'm gonna be like, "Oh, Tracker's out in the back."
04:25 Like, you're just out of the conflict.
04:26 - Yeah, Tracker is definitely in every bush,
04:28 every behind, every nook and cranny,
04:30 in all the John Wick films.
04:32 - You know, try to make audience happy,
04:37 even they watched one, two, three,
04:42 and then a little pressure,
04:44 because we have to, they're gonna be chair.
04:49 And also, we are new face,
04:52 so some freshness bring into the movie.
04:57 So that was a fun part.
05:01 - It's not lost, I mean, the magnitude
05:02 of what this movie has done for people,
05:05 but at the same time, you know,
05:06 I rose to the occasion, I took responsibility,
05:08 and I said, "All right, Chad, I'm ready to get down and dirty.
05:11 I'm gonna tussle with Keanu Reeves."
05:13 Knowing how many bodies you're throwing at Keanu Reeves,
05:16 I'm curious if there is a stunt person
05:18 who has the record for being killed
05:20 the most times by John Wick.
05:22 - There actually, no lie, I swear to God,
05:25 Keanu's very tight with the stunt team, obviously.
05:27 Keanu actually gave t-shirts,
05:28 he's like three different t-shirts,
05:29 like the under 10, how many times you died in a sequence,
05:32 and then the 10 to 15, and I think two of our guys,
05:36 yeah, the poor, yes, we know who died the most in a sequence
05:39 and I think it might've been one of our guys, Bruce,
05:42 it's either Bruce or Jeremy, or maybe even Lee.
05:44 The two biggest ones were the stair fight
05:46 and the Arc de Triomphe fight,
05:48 I think it was the same guy, and he got like 18 kills.
05:50 But then our jujitsu instructor, Dave Camarillo,
05:53 had the most number of dog attacks, both in rehearsal,
05:55 he's crazy, I mean, he got a t-shirt,
05:57 Keanu gave it to him for like 100 dog attacks,
05:59 he did like 100, he was like the dog guy.
06:01 The dogs just love to play with him, so that was A.
06:03 - What is the recovery process from making a John Wick film,
06:06 and also just, is there a sequence
06:07 that left you with kind of the biggest ouch?
06:10 - Um, let's see, you know, I think for me,
06:14 part of the pleasure of these films
06:16 is the training and all the action, because it's fun,
06:21 and it's a way to express the character, you know,
06:24 his struggle getting knocked down, getting back up,
06:27 fighting for what he wants, believes in, fighting for.
06:30 And in terms of the ouchies, you know,
06:36 we're doing action like 10 hours a day,
06:39 so for me, recovery is all about cold water.
06:42 - Last words, Winston?
06:44 - Just have fun out there.
06:45 [laughing]
06:46 [upbeat music]
06:48 - I think there's a comparison to make
06:51 between you and Tom Cruise,
06:52 because both of you have just an extreme love of cinema,
06:55 you guys love movies so much,
06:57 and again, you both personally put yourself on the line,
07:00 you throw yourself into this action so much.
07:02 - Yeah.
07:03 - I'd love kind of your perspective
07:05 on what he does in the Mission Impossible movies,
07:07 and also, I mean, just your thoughts
07:08 about how Ethan Hunt would step up against John Wick.
07:11 - Why don't we just go out and have a drink at a bar?
07:14 - Sure.
07:15 [laughing]
07:16 - Basically, kind of, they're on the same side.
07:16 - Yeah, no, what Tom Cruise does is extraordinary
07:21 and special, and something that, again,
07:25 another legend in another universe, you know,
07:28 he's doing something, I'm more like on the ground,
07:31 playing in the mud, and he's like flying,
07:35 and jumping, and outside of buildings,
07:38 and helicopters, fighter jets,
07:40 so what he's doing in terms of the events
07:44 that he's participating in,
07:47 I think is extraordinary, and his passion for it,
07:52 his skill, his talent, just shines,
07:56 and I think we're just the beneficiaries
07:59 of his excellence, you know, and he's inspiring,
08:04 and I think one thing I could say is that I share,
08:09 you know, as you spoke about, the passion for movies,
08:12 and for, you know, we're lucky to be there,
08:16 and we're just trying to have fun,
08:17 and help people like what we do.
08:19 - And both of you are going to be
08:20 in the upcoming John Wick spin-off, "Ballerina,"
08:23 and I'm just hoping you could talk about
08:24 just working with Anna DeArmas,
08:26 kind of your character's dynamic,
08:27 compared to what Keanu did with John Wick and you guys.
08:30 - She was great, I was in, you know,
08:32 Prague last, what was it, last November, December?
08:35 - It was December, yeah.
08:35 - She was terrific.
08:36 - I mean, we have a long scene together,
08:39 and she was great, yeah.
08:40 - Well, I had a short scene, but,
08:42 I mean, she's just so, she's just so dynamic,
08:48 and I mean, I haven't, you know,
08:51 I wasn't there for any of the action,
08:52 but given what I read in the script,
08:55 it's gonna be a hell of a film.
08:57 - Yeah, Keanu's in it, too.
08:58 - Yeah, yeah, so he'd done,
09:00 yeah, he'd done all his action with her,
09:02 and she was really up for it, yeah.
09:04 - Yeah, it's good to see it.
09:05 - The director on that series, Len Wiseman.
09:07 Len was a director I worked for when I was just a stunt guy,
09:09 when they were doing "The Underworlds"
09:10 and "Die Hard 4," I think it was.
09:13 So visually, I think Len is,
09:15 that's why we selected him, and then we kind of,
09:18 one thing I wanted to be very clear of
09:19 is I wanted to be kind of hands-free
09:22 of anything to do with it, 'cause I,
09:23 and that, I just wanted,
09:26 I think the best way for a property to expand
09:28 is to kind of bring in some ideas.
09:30 I think Len was great wanting to understand themes
09:34 and looks and how we do the process of "Jungle,"
09:37 'cause it is a little anti-systematic, I guess,
09:40 or anti-illogical, probably, illogical.
09:43 And then Len kind of took that and kind of rolled it off.
09:46 But then when, you know, I've gotten to meet Anna a few times
09:49 and Keanu obviously had known her from other projects,
09:52 and she shares a lot of the same attributes that Keanu does,
09:55 like she's got that, "I'm going to make this mine
09:58 and do something cool with it."
10:00 And Len is, I think, the perfect director
10:01 to let somebody expand that way.
10:03 So I would say that's probably the most important thing
10:06 is she gets it, but in her way,
10:09 and I think that's what a franchise needs to expand.
10:12 - We are now at a point in this franchise
10:14 we are seeing multiple kind of spin-offs developing.
10:16 I'm curious if that's something
10:17 that you'd be interested in exploring.
10:19 - I wouldn't have a problem with that.
10:21 - Yeah. [laughing]
10:23 - I mean, certainly if that was on the table,
10:26 I would be very excited about it.
10:28 I read a script a long time ago
10:30 of a movie that Keanu wound up doing
10:34 that they wanted me to do a part in.
10:36 And I opened the pages and I read it.
10:38 I read the first two pages of it.
10:40 And I had this premonition that I would work with him.
10:43 It just wasn't going to be that movie.
10:45 And it turned out that that was true.
10:46 And then like, I don't know, maybe five or six years later,
10:50 we wound up doing "The Matrix" together.
10:52 So, you know, I'm grateful
10:56 and I'm really excited about this one
10:59 'cause this one I think is the best one
11:01 of the Wicks franchises.
11:04 And whatever, you know, whatever the gods have for us,
11:08 the cinema gods have for us out there, I'm just, I'm waiting.
11:11 - You and Donnie Yen, like,
11:13 that's just two legends right there on screen.
11:15 Tell me just about the process of building that scene
11:18 and working with Donnie Yen.
11:20 - It was so fun.
11:21 We had no rehearsal before shooting together,
11:26 but on set we put the idea together,
11:31 matching for each character's emotion
11:34 and choreograph everything.
11:36 So he said, "How about this?
11:39 "Oh, if you do, I can do this."
11:42 And then boom, boom, boom, boom.
11:43 "Okay, shoot."
11:45 And then one take, two takes, done.
11:47 And then high five.
11:50 So collaboration was so easy and exciting and so much fun.
11:55 - At the end of the last movie,
11:56 there's a bit of ambiguity regarding whether or not
11:59 Winston shoots John Wick because he knows
12:01 that he'll survive falling off that roof
12:03 or whether he does it out of pure self-interest.
12:06 And I'm curious just your perspective on that matter.
12:08 - Well, I'm gonna just say,
12:10 of course he knew he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
12:13 He said, "Winston's an expert marksman."
12:15 And knew that he would survive, bounce off a car
12:18 55 stories down and survive some months
12:20 and be taken care of by the Bowery King.
12:22 There was no way in self-interest whatsoever.
12:25 - It's the bouncing on the way down
12:29 and the landing that I had to question about.
12:31 - We knew each other together, man.
12:35 - Well, I was gonna say,
12:36 Sharon fully accepts what he does.
12:37 - So when you say accepts, I mean, it's done.
12:42 I mean, there's nothing to do about it.
12:44 And he's Winston, he's like, "I'm his guy."
12:46 But I mean, that moment I'm left with kinda,
12:50 "Fuck, really? Shit."
12:54 And then, I don't know, that'll probably be edited out.
12:56 But yeah, that was what I was thinking as a character.
12:58 - I'm a big fan of your Constantine
13:01 and the fact that you're gonna be making a sequel
13:03 is very exciting.
13:04 - We're trying, I don't know if it's gonna happen.
13:06 - Well, I'm hoping that it does.
13:07 And just one question that I have is,
13:09 do you think that you might go blonde this time?
13:12 - I know I'm playing a different Constantine
13:15 than the comic, you know?
13:16 And I do get in a bit of trouble for that.
13:20 I know, but then I would be gray.
13:22 - Well, maybe he dyes it
13:23 and he thinks blonde's a good color.
13:24 - Yeah, I don't know if I look good as a blonde.
13:27 But I appreciate that and I do, yeah.
13:32 Hopefully I get to do it, but I don't know.
13:35 - Hey, DC's working on some interesting things.
13:37 They got "Elseworlds" going, so yeah.
13:39 - Yeah, yeah, hopefully we can play.
13:41 (intense music)
13:43 ♪ Yeah ♪
13:48 ♪ You got yourself a gun ♪
13:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]