Keanu, the move about a lost cat named after film star Keanu Reeves who has to be rescued from drug dealers, comes out this Friday and carries a lot of expectations from fans t0 be funny. It’s a tall order to make a movie about rescuing a cat hilarious, but if anybody can accomplish it it’s Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele – the stars and creators of the film. As might be expected, naming the cat “Keanu” came about as a result of their admiration and love of Keanu Reeves, star of The Matrix and John Wick among many other films. In the movie, Keanu (the actor) voices a cat that leads Jordan Peele’s character through a drug trip while he is on the hunt for Keanu (the cat) and it isn’t outright referenced as being Keanu (the actor’s) voice nor do they overtly mention or give a nod to any of his greatest hits.
To do more than give a subtle wink to the audience about who is voicing the cat would probably push the film into more satirical or joke-y territory than Key and Peele mean it to occupy, so leaving it up to the viewer to figure it out makes sense. Since they are such big fans of the actor, a cameo by Reeves himself might seem like a foregone conclusion. But in reality, it almost didn’t happen. As director Peter Atencio told it to The LA Times, the small cameo almost didn’t happen at all. The actor’s representation declined the offer initially and it wasn’t until Keanu (the actor) was shown the trailer by his sister that he decided it would be really funny to participate.
OK, so he agrees — then what?
Well, he was in Italy making “John Wick 2,” so we had him go to a recording studio in Rome. I was on Skype with him, and I spent an hour recording a bunch of dialogue. They hooked it up so that I could talk and he could hear it in his headphones. The studio [Warner Bros.] was wanting him to drop a bunch of references to his old movies. But we didn’t want to make it overt or too pointed. We don’t want him to do, like, his “Bill and Ted” voice and beat you over the head with it. And he had great ideas for lines. He was having fun with it. He is credited in the end credits, but those weren’t ready at SXSW.
That sounds….exactly like how it would go down when getting Keanu (the actor…and maybe the cat) to participate in your ridiculous movie about a cat rescue. “Oh, I’m in Rome do you want to just Skype in to feed me lines for a scene about a drug-induced cat hallucination?” Yup, exactly how I imagined it would go down. Fans will have to see what befalls of Keanu (the cat) when the movie comes out, but at least they know Keanu (the actor) is as cool and relaxed as he is rumored to be.
(via The LA Times)
