‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ Actress Natalia Tena Talks Joining Action Franchise, Clarifies Presumptions About Her Character (Exclusive)

John Wick: Chapter 4 is a fiery, blood-soaked expansion of the hit action franchise, and it introduces a number of fascinating new characters. Among the many interesting people who Keanu Reeves’ globe-trotting assassin crosses paths with, this time around is his “sister” Katia, as played by actress Natalia Tena. Katia is the new head of the Ruska Roma crime syndicate, John’s former clan.

Not much is known about the mysterious and assertive Katia, but it’s clear that she and John have a complicated family history. Recently, PopCulture.com had a chance to speak with Tena to talk about her experience working on the film. During our conversation, Tena discussed what it was like to join the fan-favorite action franchise, praised director Chad Stahelski, and offered some clarity on the presumptions fans have made about her character. Scroll down for more!

PopCulture.com: What was it like for you joining the franchise in film number four?

Natalia: So, interestingly… because it was the pandemic, we were all binge-watching a lot of stuff. I did a lot of weird tangents of stuff. I’m like, “Let’s do all the Predators, all the Aliens.” We did all of it. Then at some point, I was like, “Let’s do John Wick,” and it was actually quite close to when I got the job. I was like, “What?” 

Also, my agent was a bit unsure as well, she was like, “I don’t really know what this is. I don’t know if it’s a meeting or audition, I don’t know.” He [Stahelski] was so full of life. He was like, “Yeah, look, see your face?” On the back, you know, had all the spotlight pictures, “That’s your face.” I was like, “Yes, that is my face.”

Basically, he told me his process was like, “I see people and I love your eyes and I just think you could be this person.” And I just chat with him for, I don’t know, half an hour. He was like, “Could you learn Russian?” I was like, “F—yeah, sure,” At this point I’m like, “I’ll do anything.” Then we left and rang my agent, I was like, “What was… Do I have a job?” She’s like, “I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ll just sit…” Then a month later, “You have a job, you’ve got a job. You can’t… But there’s no script.” I was like, “I’m in. I don’t care, I don’t care, I literally don’t care.” Matriarchal Roma woman that speaks Russian. I’m in, 100%.

PopCulture.com: Where did your filming take place?

Natalia: I was in Berlin… I was at the very start. So they just started filming and I think maybe they did one day before me. I think it might have even just been drone shots. But I think we were the first big… Maybe they’d done one little stunt thing. I don’t know. But I feel like we were the first big talking thing with the actual dialogue and stunts as well. And I loved Berlin. And also because it’d been the pandemic, none of us had really traveled much. And I’m very lucky because I’ve got the job and then my agent was like, “Nat, you are Spanish, right? And I was like, “Yes.” I don’t have a British passport. I’ve only got a Spanish one because at that point, literally just when they start filming the borders everywhere in Europe cut off, all British, anyone with a British passport, they cut them off.

And so there was this clusterf— and they’re like, “Nat, it’s fine. You’re not going to lose the job but you have to go to Spain for 10 days to quarantine.” I was like, “That’s fine.” …So I just went to Madrid, saw my family and got to learn Russian in that time. Which was actually very, very helpful… In life, you can get distracted with your life, just your general, where you live… It really focused me that every day I was in this hotel room and I had an hour if I wanted to with this Russian dude in New York that would speak to me and do the accent. Then I got to go to Berlin. I loved it. I was next to the zoo and I love running so I could run all around it. There was all the canals. It was a really great place to be in that time. June in Berlin after not traveling for ages!

PopCulture.com: It’s really interesting to get some insight into all of this from you and how that filming process was and all that, because I know there were lots of filming delays due to the pandemic.

Natalia: Yeah, how it works… It’s the little things… Also, I feel like there was a bit of me, because I’d been alone pretty much, I saw my family a bit, but still I was pretty nervous about seeing people because when I was in Spain I was like, “Okay, I’m in the middle now, if I get COVID they’re going to replace me.” So there was this… Because I’m in the transient bit. It was a panicky, but then I spent a lot in my room just babbling to myself in Russian or pacing in the park. Actually, when I got to meet Chad and Keanu Reeves and all the team, I was so really excited. Imagine a child, I was like, “[inaudible 00:05:11] was too much, too much.” But they were very kind and they swept me up and made me feel safe and wanted there.

PopCulture.com: That’s so sweet. Your character, Katia, is John Wick’s adoptive sister. And the thing about these-

Natalia: Well, actually we don’t know. We never worked it out.

PopCulture.com: That’s true. You’re right. It’s never really clarified, we just assume that.

Natalia: No. So we tried to talk about it because we did a read-through and I was like, “Is she his cousin, is it his second cousin?” But I don’t know if you’ve got a big family, but I’ve got a very… there are people in my extended family, I don’t even know their names. Honestly don’t know. And by visual I could pass them on the street and not know them. And in Spain my family is a bit smaller, but the extended side of it, no idea. No idea who that is.

I think with the Roma-style family, especially as they are essentially an expanding mafia family, I bet there’s a lot of people that drop through. And we were thinking maybe he’s a cousin of mine or maybe I’m his niece. But we talked about it because we were talking about how… what he does say, “Last time I saw you were little,” so I’m imagining the last time they saw each other, she was a teenager. He was at prime, 30, just hitting his proper assassin stride, and I was looking up to him and, obviously, now the tables have turned and at some weird family funeral, Christmas, bar mitzvah, something.

PopCulture.com: Those awkward family holidays.

Natalia: Yeah, with guns and alcohol.

PopCulture.com:Did they bring you any lore whatsoever or is this literally just where they start, on the page?

Natalia: Yeah, it was on the page. We talked about it a bit, but I think other than the… I looked at a lot of Roma stuff and I did watch a lot of documentaries and I tried to get into that universe. Wow, okay, this is… So there’s a lot of documentaries about original Roma people and how they live now. I did do all that research. But then it’s that mix with mafia, so it’s two different worlds put together. I think the overriding I tried to really stick with me, is she is a deeply grieving woman who has been handed a mantle in a patriarchal society that she has to live up to while grieving. And that to me was… you could have that in any situation, it could be a queen in Alexandria. It’s a very similar vibe, but it’s what her through line, that’s her subtext, emotionally. That’s what I thought.

Chad helped me. He reminded me because obviously you are there and all you are thinking about. He actually was the sensitive one in that sense of… I was there like, “I’ve got to be this Roma, hardcore bitch.” And he’s like, “Remember this and this and this.” And that’s why directors are directors because they help you, guide you through the emotional things that you need to remember in a scene as opposed to just your status. It’s like what’s your status on your emotional bubbles that are happening to you.

PopCulture.com:I also found myself wondering, “Well is there a chance that Katia was ever a ballerina? Could she have been part of that?”

Natalia: For me, I think ballerinas are different. Have you seen Red Sparrow? …In my mind, when I see the ballerinas, I imagine that they’re in that universe. I had a stagehand person that I knew in my life and he actually worked with the Russian Ballet Society and they are just… apparently, it’s a whole other level. I don’t know why, I imagine that military-style vibe of Red Sparrow put into the ballerina and it’s like, “Yes they might kill people on the side, but they are being trained for that.” Maybe on the side as a side hustle, they also kill people. So I think that’s how I see that. I think I was always the daughter that was maybe going to take over, maybe I had a brother that died. Because I imagine with the Roma society, it’s why has she got there? Did I kill my brother…?

PopCulture.com:Let me ask about working with Keanu… what was that experience like? He seems like the most just generous, sincere, and kindhearted guy in the whole world.

Natalia: He’s very nice. He’s very soft as I’d describe him, but also personable. Like I said, the first time I met him, I’d been enclosed in a room 10 days. I’d only seen my family one day and I was just so ever excited to just be out in the… He took that very well. I rambled… You know when suddenly you’re like, please stop talking? I get this a lot in my life with everyone regardless whether they’re famous or not. It’s just like I can hear my voice, like, “Nat, shut up.” I was telling some story about Stone Henge… “Oh God, shut up.” He was very open to me babbling at him, asking questions… I felt okay with him.

Maybe I’ve been lucky with some of the big actors I’ve got; 90% of them never made me feel weird or uncomfortable in a scene. Which is really helpful because obviously when you’re working with a really, really famous actor… An actress told me this, well maybe a comedian told me this, that sometimes your job, if you’re the highest status in the terms of the career path of everyone else, also a percentage of your job is to actually make people feel comfortable around you.

…You’re not actually there just to do your job, you are also there to actually help make other people feel comfortable around you, to make them feel good enough to do their job around you as well. Because, otherwise, people will freeze. Obviously, as a big actor, you are going to expend more energy. But that’s why you get paid the big bucks… and it makes everything trickle down a lot. So, like something with Harry Potter, for example, the hierarchy always trickles down. So the hierarchy were the kids. The kids were lovely, the directors were lovely and you only get a sense something going bad when one of the top leader actors or director was very difficult.

That’s when you can feel the tension on set, and horrible. This was the complete opposite of that. Chad is so well organized in his vision of how he has everything set. Those first two weeks when we were filming, he would just come over, I’d be sat on set mumbling to myself in Russian and he would always just come sit down to me like he had all the time in the world… We’d chat about other random s—… And it’s like, how are you that relaxed and personable and wanting to make me feel like a queen? Even though I’m like a random character. It was a really lovely experience.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is now available on Digital, and will be coming to 4K Ultra HD , Blu-ray, and DVD on June 13, from Lionsgate. Stay locked to PopCulture.com for more great movie news, reviews, and interviews! [Editor’s Note: This interview has been slightly edited for time and clarity.]