Keanu Reeves’ John Wick was originally scripted for a much older actor

Virgin Radio

19 Jul 2022, 07:39

If you’ve seen any of the John Wick action movies, then the idea of anyone other than Keanu Reeves playing the titular character just doesn’t seem right. But if the initial plan for the franchise was carried out, it could have been another, much older, Hollywood A-lister in the role.

There have been three John Wick movies to date, and there’s a fourth on the way, with Reeves iconic as the tough former assassin. However, it’s been revealed that the original idea was for the character to be a 75-year-old man, possibly to be portrayed by the likes of Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford.

In the new book They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored A**-Kicking Oral History of John Wick, Gun Fu, and the New Age of Action, franchise producer Basil Iwanyk says that the plan at first was to have an older actor in the role. 

“One of my best friends is Charlie Ferraro at United Talent Agency, who sent me this script from [screenwriter] Derek Kolstad called Scorn,” Iwanyk said (via Entertainment Weekly). “The lead was a 75-year-old man, 25 years after being retired.”

The producer continued: “I thought, ‘Okay, there’s probably one or two names you could do this with: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford.’”

However, the plan soon changed, as Iwanyk explained. “My other best friend in the world, this guy Jimmy Darmody, is an agent at CAA, who at the time represented Keanu,” Iwanyk explained. “And he said, ‘Do you have any action movies for Keanu Reeves?’

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘Keanu is one of the great action stars of the last 25 years – what happened to him? What’s he been doing?’”

The producer said that they got a copy of the script to Keanu: “We give him the script, we tell him, ‘Clearly, you’re not 75.’”

The star of The Matrix reportedly read the John Wick script in 90 minutes and instantly knew it would be “such a great collaboration”. Screenwriter Derek Kolstad said Reeves told him: “‘Okay, Derek, I’m going to play him 35.’”

And the rest, as they say, is history!

The fourth film in the John Wick franchise lands in cinemas in March 2023.