John Wick directors fought with financiers to keep Keanu Reeves’ beard

The first John Wick movie will soon return to theaters to celebrate its 10th anniversary. As the franchise has spawned sequels, spinoffs, TV series, video games, and more, it’s easy to forget that the first film was such a surprise. Directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch faced an uphill battle to make John Wick, including fighting with financiers to keep Keanu Reeves’ beard.

It’s hard to imagine John Wick without his beard (which looks great on him), but financiers were concerned that it would make the film more difficult to sell in international markets. “We were trying to do a modern-day Greek mythology fantasy movie. That’s not mainstream. So we wanted to do something cool with Keanu,” Stahelski told Business Insider. “But the money people, they wanted to see Keanu f***ing Reeves. ‘Point Break’ Keanu, ‘Speed’ Keanu. And I don’t know if this exists anymore, but at the time we were told by the powers that be you don’t cover up your leading man’s face with a beard.“

Leitch added, “I don’t want to get into it, but since then I have had contentious conversations about stars having facial hair. “He needs to be clean-shaven for international!” That’s the classic studio line.“

Stahelski continued, “We wanted people to think, ‘Oh, this is not the Keanu we know.’ We caught a lot of shit. But we felt you can’t fire us, so first day of shooting, we had Keanu in the beard, and later that week, when they watched the dailies, with cinematographer Jonathan Sela’s now famous half-light shots, people f***ing loved it.“

Our first John Wick spinoff movie will be Ballerina, which stars Ana de Armas as a young woman with killer skills who sets out to get revenge when hitmen kill her family. As the film takes place in the John Wick universe, it will feature appearances from several franchise characters, including Ian McShane as Winston, the owner of the Continental Hotel, the late Lance Reddick as Charon, the Continental’s concierge, and Anjelica Huston as the Director, the head of the Ruska Roma. Keanu Reeves will also make an appearance as John Wick. The film will also include Catalina Sandino Moreno, Gabriel Bryne, and Norman Reedus in undisclosed roles. The film is set to hit theaters on June 6, 2025.