Along with his great humble attitude, Keanu is also selective with the roles he takes on. The actor certainly earned the right. However, there is a franchise fans would have loved to have seen Keanu star in. Let’s reveal what that was, and why it wasn’t meant to be for the actor. In truth, it was far from the only time Reeves turned down a major deal to star in a significant role. Though Fast & Furious might’ve been the biggest…
Keanu Reeves Turned Down An Offer To Star In The Fast And Furious Franchise
Throughout his career, Keanu Reeves has listened to his gut. Like so many other A-list stars, Keanu has been forced to turn down major scripts for one reason or another. When presented a role in The ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’, Keanu simply passed on Fast & Furious due to timing. According to David Leitch, the villain role of Eteon Director was offered to Keanu. The director claims the interest was there, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I did talk to Keanu about being in the film,’ ‘It just wasn’t the right time when he was doing things,” the director said. “We’ve been talking about it for a long time, and I wasn’t sure in what capacity. It was early on, and it kept lingering. Even through editorial, I was thinking of ideas if he was interested and he wanted to be seated in this world how we could do it.”
Keanu Reeves has a net worth of $380 million.
Leitch remained optimistic that he’d get to work with Keanu at some point down the road. “It really just came down to things he wanted to do and everybody’s schedule,” he added. It didn’t work out on this one, but I look forward to working with Keanu on something hopefully.’”
Keanu Reeves was on the verge of tears discussing what The Matrix means to him.
That wasn’t the only time Keanu turned down the franchise. He also rejected a role in Fast X. Alan Ritchson snagged the role instead and admits he was lucky enough to do so.
“It was just a little stroke of luck and good timing,” Ritchson told EW . “I was working on [Ordinary Angels] with Hilary Swank up in Winnipeg in the freezing cold, and I got a call that things had shifted in the plans with Keanu Reeves, which is I think who was originally intended to play my part,” the actor continued. “Tough act to follow.”
Over on Reddit, fans discussed Ritchson taking the role. Although Keanu would have been great in the role, most fans were glad that Alan ended up in the spot. A user wrote, “Alan did great – don’t blame Keanu wanting to play second fiddle to Jason’s character.” Another user added, “I love Keanu, but Alan perfectly fit the part!”
Keanu Reeves also turned down a role in the Michael Mann film, Heat.
It all worked out in the end and, let’s face it, neither of the two sides suffered because of it.
Other Roles Keanu Reeves Almost Starred In
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001)
‘Speed Racer’ (2008)
‘Watchmen’ (2009)
‘Eternals’ (2021)
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (2022)
‘Captain Marvel’ (2019)
Keanu Reeves Left Millions On The Table In The Past Due To Scripts He Didn’t Like
Speed 2 was desperate for Keanu’s involvement. So much so, that he was presented with a $12 million offer to star in the film and reprise his role with Sandra Bullock. Despite the big money deal, Keanu just couldn’t come to terms with the cript from a creative standpoint, and looking back, we completely understand why. Reeves revealed, “At the time, I just didn’t respond to the script,” Reeves revealed. “I really wanted to work with Sandra Bullock, and I really loved playing Jack Traven.”
The legendary actor is about to give fans a look at his secret passion in an upcoming docuseries.
He continues, “It wasn’t against any of the artists that were involved in the project, but at that time — I’m sure we’ve all had this kind of feeling sometimes when things just don’t feel right, and that was how I was feeling,” Reeves said. “I loved ‘Speed,’ but… now it’s on an ocean liner?”
Keanu was applauded for turning down the sequel, while Sandra Bullock called the second Speed film the worst of her entire career. Things haven’t changed for Keanu, who remains a man of principle. Nowadays, he’s getting applauded for implementing a strict rule in his contract that goes against deepfakes.
Reeves tells Wired about never surrendering to the machines, “Digitally. I don’t mind if someone takes a blink out during an edit,” Reeves said. “But early on, in the early 2000s, or it might have been the ’90s, I had a performance changed. They added a tear to my face, and I was just like, ‘Huh?!’ It was like, I don’t even have to be here.”
The actor added, “What’s frustrating about that is you lose your agency. When you give a performance in a film, you know you’re going to be edited, but you’re participating in that. If you go into deepfake land, it has none of your points of view. That’s scary. It’s going to be interesting to see how humans deal with these technologies. They’re having such cultural, sociological impacts, and the species is being studied. There’s so much ‘data’ on behaviors now.”
Tom Cruise is on the same page as Keanu Reeves, and trying to prohibit the use of AI in films.
Hard to argue with Keanu’s point of view, as the actor is trying to keep things authentic in the world of film, despite its constant changes.
