‘John Wick’ Directors Fought Financiers Over Keanu Reeves’ Beard and ‘Caught S—‘ for Not Shaving It; They Were Told ‘He Needs to Be Clean-Shaven for International’
variety.comZack Sharf Digital News Director “John Wick” directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch marked the 10th anniversary of their action movie by speaking to Business Insider about the various battled they had to overcome in order to launch the Keanu Reeved-led franchise.
One of the most surprising battles centered on the actor’s beard, as the financiers of “John Wick” preferred the star to be clean shaven like his famous turns in “Point Break,” “Speed” and “The Matrix.” “Absolutely.
We were trying to do a modern-day Greek mythology fantasy movie. That’s not mainstream. So we wanted to do something cool with Keanu,” Stahelski said about the beard. “But the money people, they wanted to see Keanu fucking Reeves. ‘Point Break’ Keanu, ‘Speed’ Keanu.
And I don’t know if this exists anymore, but at the time we were told by the powers that be you don’t cover up your leading man’s face with a beard.” “I don’t want to get into it, but since then I have had contentious conversations about stars having facial hair. ‘He needs to be clean-shaven for international!’ That’s the classic studio line,” Leitch added.
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