Lance Reddick’s shocking death on Friday felt like a cold fist in the face for fans of his work. The passing also comes ahead of John Wick 4‘s release, placing a cloud over what should be a time to celebrate.
Folks are still celebrating Reddick, of course. It’s just tinged with sadness, enhanced with each spin from the headlines. A standout story comes from one of Reddick’s final interviews, speaking with Vulture back in 2021 about the success of John Wick and his role in the series.
Videos by PopCulture.com
As it turns out, Reddick and Reeves seemed to get closer than expected during the first three films in the series. As Vulture notes, he was on set for one day in the first movie before becoming one of three characters to appear in all entries with a spin-off on the way. He goes on to give some insight on how that time has evolved his relationship with Reeves, heaping praise on the star.
“We’ve gotten to know each other a little better. I hope I don’t get in trouble for telling this story: During John Wick: Chapter Four, my first day of filming happened to be Keanu’s birthday. But he wasn’t in the scene. He came to the set anyway at nine o’clock at night with his girlfriend who I had never met. And she is … can I say a bad word?” Reddick asks. “His girlfriend is cool as fuck. And she told me that she asked Keanu what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said, “I want to go see Lance.” He’d never done this before but he wrote me a note thanking me for what I brought to the character in these movies. And he wanted to give the note to me. I’ll never forget it. I’m going to cry now.”
Reddick went on to say he wanted to get the note framed, which hopefully he got a chance to do before he passed away. He also had nothing but kind words about Reeves in general.
“I remember my first scene that I shot with him – it’s the first scene you see us together in the first movie – he was struggling with the timing. I said, “Keanu do you want to do XYZ?” I don’t even remember what it was. And he kind of smiled and said, “No man, you just do your thing.” My experience with him after that continues to be one with someone who’s very generous as an actor and then all about the work,” Reddick detailed. “He’s also very shy. This is going to sound really weird, but – he seems simple, but spiritually he’s very advanced…He’s incredibly deep and insightful and thoughtful.”
