Keanu Reeves had one of his best cameo appearances in the 2016 movie Keanu. For anyone wondering if the movie’s based on him in any way, it’s not the case. It is an action comedy flick centering around two cousins desperately trying to retrieve their stolen cat. Despite not being based on Reeve directly, the kitten by his name in the movie was given his voice in a particular scene.

Keanu starring Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key

Reportedly, the movie didn’t have any special voice cameo by Keanu Reeves at first. It was implemented very late after the Matrix actor approached the makers himself. However, he had a major concern before agreeing to the special appearance. The actor didn’t want the movie or the role to be a mockery.

What was Keanu Reeves’ concern regarding the 2016 Jordan Peele movie?

Jordan Peel and Keegan-Michael Key were highly popular for their sketch series Key & Peele. The fans were quite excited when they finally received a movie after working together for five seasons. But one of the main issues that arose initially was its similarity with John Wick, or more precisely, it was looking like a parody of it.

Keanu Reeves as John Wick

But the director Peter Atencio repeatedly assured that it was not the case and the two films were quite distinct. He said to the Los Angeles Times that the initial similarities with the action film series discouraged them as he didn’t want to make a parody.

“We were like, ‘Should we? Is this a good idea?’ When ‘John Wick’ came out, we were kind of like, ‘Oh, my God. This is crazy.’ There’s a movie that has a very similar process that stars Keanu. In a way, that almost kind of deterred us. We didn’t want to see like we we were making a ‘John Wick’ parody. But the studio kept asking, “Can we get Keanu? Can we get Keanu?”

Despite joining the movie after a series of dramas regarding the casting, Keanu Reeves also had a major concern regarding it. He didn’t want the movie by his name to be a cheap mockery of him in the end. Atencio added:

“He wanted to talk to me before he agreed to make sure that wasn’t the case. So I told him about the movie and talked him through the story. His personality has just transcended life, in a lot of ways.”

Finally, the makers were successful in convincing the Speed star about their intentions. Director Peter Atencio incorporated a dream sequence where we can hear Reeves voicing the kitten. The voice cameo also helped the actor maintain his work schedule on John Wick 2. 

Casting Keanu Reeves in Keanu wasn’t easy

Keanu Reeves voiced the kitten Keanu

It is worth noting that casting Keanu Reeves in the voice cameo wasn’t an easy task for the makers. The actor’s representatives denied the movie in the very first place- “Yeah, they politely declined. Who knows if he ever even heard about the offer.”

Ultimately the hard work paid off when the trailer was released and it reached Reeves anyway through his sister. The trailer looked very intriguing to the actor and he himself approached the makers for any kind of help that was needed. While sharing the details from the production of the movie, director Peter Atencio added:

“But then we got a call after the trailer came out — apparently, his sister showed him the trailer and said, ‘Hey, you gotta see this. You’re gonna love this!’ He flipped out and got in touch with us directly to say ‘If there’s anything I can do, let’s make this work.’”

Another challenge was that Keanu Reeves was busy with his John Wick 2 in Italy so the team thought of an interesting last-minute special voice appearance and went to Rome. It was also reported that the studio wanted the scene to be filled with references to his old movies. But they were sensible enough to not overdo that.

Keanu can be rented on Apple TV+.