John Wick’s Chad Stahleski Reveals the Big Similarity Between Keanu Reeves and Brandon Lee

John Wick director Chad Stahelski sees one major similarity between star Keanu Reeves and the late Brandon Lee: “sheer will.” Stahelski was Lee’s stunt double on the 1994 movie The Crow, and after Lee’s tragic death Stahelski stood in for him for the remainder of filming, with special effects used to superimpose Lee’s face on Stahelski’s body. He was also Reeves’ stunt double in The Matrix trilogy before they worked together on John Wick. In an interview with ComicBook last week, Stahelski talked about the new documentary Wick is Pain on the making of the John Wick franchise. He said that Reeves shares Lee’s “superhuman levels of focus.”

“Brandon and Keanu are very different people, very different personalities,” Stahelski said. “But they have one thing in common, that sheer will and desire that once they commit, they are f—ing all in. I mean, I’m talking superhuman levels of focus. You will hear all these stories, everyone does all their stunts and they train hard. I get that, and there are some amazing cast members out there. Ones I have worked with, there are two that stand above anything you will ever see. One is Keanu — the man has endurance and sheer force of will. He can do anything you want. Like he’s an unstoppable force in a in a very humble and gentle way.”

“Brandon had that,” Stahelski went on. “Brandon was the first guy to laugh.
Like even in the most serious, most hardcore kickboxers in the world are in this room, like all trying to kill each other and he’s just laughing, having fun. Nothing turned this guy on more than working hard.”

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Stahelski was one of two stunt performers working with Lee on The Crow. While filming in March of 1993, Lee was accidentally wounded on set by a prop gun loaded with defective blank ammunition. He was rushed to he hospital but passed away during surgery. He was 28 years old, and was the son of actor Bruce Lee. The movie was ultimately finished, and is remembered largely as Lee’s swan song.

Just a few years later, Stahelski met Reeves while working as his stunt double in The Matrix trilogy. He would eventually rise to become stunt coordinator for the series. In the years that followed, he worked hard for his chance to direct a big budget film himself, and Reeves agreed to star in it. Stahelski has directed all four John Wick movies, and he is featured in the new documentary Wick is Pain.

The documentary details all the behind-the-scenes drama that went into launching this franchise, and its meteoric rise to success. Wick is Pain is available for digital purchase now on Prime Video and Fandango at Home.