‘When You See Keanu In Pain On Screen, It’s Probably Real:’ Keanu Reeves Was Like Nah Bro When It Came To The Gym After John Wick Chapter 4

DGIX

May 9, 2025

The John Wick franchise is known for its incredibly choreographed stunt work. We’ve seen lots of behind-the-scenes footage of the work Keanu Reeves puts in to get it all perfect. He makes it all look quite easy, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t pay a physical price.

Keanu Reeves does a lot of his own stunt work in the John Wick movies, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some help. A new documentary, simply titled, Wick is Pain, takes a look at the making of the action series and its growth from an independent action film to a massive franchise. In the documentary (via USA Today), one of Reeves’ stunt men, Jackson Spidell, says that if John Wick ever appears to be in pain on screen, it’s probably not acting on the part of Keanu Reeves…

When you see Keanu in pain on screen, it’s probably for real.

Wick is Pain is a great name for a documentary about the franchise, as it is all about pain. The first movie starts with John Wick suffering from emotional pain. From there, he ends up in one fight for his life after another. As the story in the films largely takes place over a short period of time, John Wick has little chance to physically recover, which just means more pain.

While John Wick: Chapter 4 finally let the character rest, it seems that John Wick is being called on once again. Chapter 5 is now a project in development, and Reeves admits that going back to play the titular character is something he needs to really think about. Playing John Wick has its own workout routine, and making the last movie took such a toll, he stayed out of the gym for a long time. Reeves said…

I didn’t go to the gym for over a year. In terms of the future of John Wick, the book isn’t closed on that chapter, but it’s definitely a chapter that is needing some time to think about.

Of course, Keanu Reeves likely did need to go back to the gym for his appearance in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. The trailers for the John Wick spinoff show him going toe-to-toe with Ana de Armas. We’ve even seen some behind-the-scenes footage of de Armas and Reeves practicing, which is basically like going to the gym.

The good news for Keanu Reeves is that it will likely be a while before he needs to go “full John Wick” again. John Wick: Chapter 5 is still pretty far in the future. In fact, the next time Keanu plays John Wick, he won’t need to go to the gym at all, as he’ll be voicing the character for an animated prequel.

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