Indiewire Chief Film Critic and Senior Editor Eric Kohn spoke with Keanu Reeves on the eve of his latest vehicle, the wildly entertaining action-revenge drama “John Wick”. In the candid interview, posted to Indiewire today, Reeves explained why he’s been drawn to various genre films lately — and how his recent involvement in more indie than studio projects wasn’t a conscious choice.
Do you feel particularly attracted to certain kinds of genre movies?
Aren’t all movies genre? If we’re talking about the science fiction or action genres, I’ve always tried when I could to do them in a way that’s not just cookie-cutter — that they bring something fresh or original to it, have some kind of ideas to it. I’ve been fortunate, in some sense, to do those kinds of movies that are unique.
You aren’t doing many studio movies these days. “John Wick” was produced independently and acquired later by Lionsgate. Do you have a preference for indies over studio projects?
Not really. The last studio movie I did was “47 Ronin,” but before that it had been a long time – probably “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” So I haven’t been getting many offers from the studios.
Are you OK with that?
No, it sucks, but it’s just the way it is. You can have positive and negative experiences, but what I like about studios are the resources and the worlds that they can create. Obviously, a lot of good filmmakers work on studio movies. Even when I was working on studio movies more often, I was always doing independent movies. So for me, that was just not happening, but I want to keep going, making things, and telling stories. I want to be able to do that – to be an actor, a director, to produce, you know? If we’re going to do a delineation between studio and independent [films], I was always hoping to do both.
