How Keanu Reeves Turned Himself Into John Wick

If you’re into action movies – or movies in general – it’s pretty much impossible to pretend that you haven’t heard of the John Wick movies yet. The third one just hit theaters a few weeks ago and the fourth movie has already been officially greenlit. Whether you’re a fan of the movies or not, they’ve certainly managed to make an impact at the box office and it’s hard to imagine that the fourth movie will be the last.

The main trump card that the John Wick series has is the amazing performance of Keanu Reeves. He absolutely nails the character, and it’s placed Keanu back firmly on top of Hollywood, after a calm few years. Let’s take a look at how he prepared for the role that he’ll probably never be able to shake off.

The John Wick Boot Camp
Prior to filming, Keanu goes through a months long “boot camp” where he practices his shooting, driving and fighting skills. He basically runs down the house with a gun, practicing his draws and reloads – and ofcourse the quick weapon transitions.

The Fighting Styles
As a part of his training, he learnt extensive amounts of judo and jiu-jitsu, along with grappling techniques. This is to allow for easier editing: punches have to be missed or pulled, which makes for difficult filming. The choice was made to make everything seem more realistic by scrapping punches and kicks altogether.

The Workout
Because Keanu Reeves is already in his 50’s, his workout is specifically tailored to make his body work together instead of growing a large amount of muscle mass. He usually works with resistance bands instead of free weights, which means his joints don’t get injured.

The Diet
While Keanu doesn’t follow a specific diet for his regular life, he does start a low-sodium and low-fat diet before filming. The night before filming intense action scenes, he does indulge himself with a nice, juicy steak.

The Training Other People
Keanu has become such a good John Wick that he’s served as a consultant and trainer for Atomic Blonde, more specifically in training Charlize Theron. Since the action in both movies are very similar, Keanu helped train Charlize to prepare for her role. And for the record: he won all the fights they had.