Keanu Reeves Gave John Wick 4 Crew Hilariously Morbid Gifts
Keanu Reeves gave the John Wick stunt team shirts with how many times they died filming the movie.
It’s not a secret that Keanu Reeves is one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, so, of course, he’d want to honor the stunt crew for John Wick: Chapter 4. Variety reports that the gift was thoughtful but wickedly morbid, as Reeves gave each member of the stunt team a shirt with how many times they “died” while filming the movie. Given the high body count in the film, everyone “died” multiple times, with a few going above 20.
Stunt workers would often have to be killed off multiple times in one scene, with the worst offender being the instantly iconic stairway fight. Battling for every inch up the 222 steps of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, twice, John Wick amasses a higher body count in this one sequence than he did in the first film. Behind the scenes, an amazing 35 members of the stunt crew were used, with most of them dying, on average, four or five times.
Fight coordinator Jeremy Marinas embraced the challenge of taking 100 men falling down the stairs and making it unique each time. Keanu Reeves performed all of John Wick’s stunts going up the stairs himself, but his stunt double, Vincent Bouillon, managed the long fall back down the stairs. Marinas praised Reeves’ ability to properly aim a gun while going up the stairs, noting how hard it is on a flat surface, never mind a vertical surface with chaos all around him.
There’s a reason that director Chad Stahelski thinks the Oscars should add a category for stunt coordination. Keanu Reeves recognizes the hard work put in by the skilled team, even gifting his John Wick stunt team personalized Submariner watches. The four performers that helped bring the Baba Yaga to life were Bruce Concepcion, Jeremy Marinas, Dave Camarillo, and Li Qiang.
Stahelski thinks that John Wick’s look at the bottom of the infamous flight of stairs is partly in character and partly the action star himself expressing annoyance at the physically demanding scene. Stunt performers are usually the unheralded best parts of an action movie; even in an age when more stars are doing their own stunts, there’s still a need for a dedicated stunt team.
Away from the stuntwork, Keanu Reeves has another hit on his hands with John Wick: Chapter 4, which had a larger opening than the third movie. Also starring the late Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, Scott Adkins, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Clancy Brown, the film franchise has accomplished the rare feat of a larger opening weekend with each successive entry.
Next up for the biggest action franchise of the last decade is Ballerina, a spin-off starring Ana de Armas, and the series, The Continental, starring Hollywood legend Mel Gibson. A third spin-off, focused on Yen’s assassin Caine, hasn’t been announced, but the star wants to make it happen.
No matter the film or the show, fans can count on the John Wick franchise to continue pushing the envelope for stunt work.
