John Wick Director Chad Stahelski Outlines John Wick’s Style of Action

With the John Wick franchise, director Chad Stahelski wanted to blend realistic martial arts, driving, and firearms, with a sprinkle of Hollywood magic. After a long and storied career as a stunt performer (doubling for Keanu Reeves in The Matrix trilogy), Stahelski turned his hand to directing, partnering with David Leitch to create the John Wick universe. Stahelski has directed all four films in the series, which have become lauded for their incredible stunt work and fight choreography.

Stahelski recently sat down with Collider to discuss his upcoming Highlander reboot and was asked about his tenure directing the John Wick movies. During the chat, Stahelski revealed his overall goal for the franchise’s distinct style of action. The director said that most fights and shootouts in movies are pure fiction, but audiences have become too accustomed to them for it to change completely. As a result, Stahelski had to merge his desire for realism with the over-stylized action choreography audiences believe is realistic. Stahelski said:

“I’ll keep it to the core. Most audiences, I’ll use the gun analogy, most of what you know about gunfights or car chases, because most of us don’t get involved in gun fights, or car chases, or sword fights, we learn through movies.
And what those movies show you is about 95% bullsh*t. You don’t fight 50 guys with your bare hands and then walk away, but it’s fun.
It’s wish fulfillment.”

“So John Wick, we know it’s a cartoon — I know it’s not — but we also have fun with it.
But we do tactical reloads, we try to do fire manipulations, stuff like the professionals do, the military do. But then we have fun with it, you know?
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Training Actors for John Wick Takes Ages

The behind-the-scenes training clips for the John Wick movies are nearly as popular as the films themselves. Starring Keanu Reeves as a former hitman coming out of retirement, Stahelski needed the actor to train in various martial arts, work with firearms, and brush up on his stunt driving to convincingly play the character. The result: around 90-95% of the action in the movie is done by Keanu Reeves. While fans only see a glimpse of the training through social media, Stahelski revealed that training an actor for a stunt-heavy role is a long and painstaking process. The director said:

“Actors are no different than you.
If you have to become an NBA basketball player, could you do it in three weeks?
Could you do it in three months? Could you do it in three years?
Yet the burden is on us to make it look like they’re the best in the world that has ever lived.
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Ultimately, the investment paid off. The John Wick movies revolutionized the modern action genre, spawning a wave of imitators, like Atomic Blonde and the Extraction franchise. Stahelski went on to praise Reeves’ dedication to the role. The director also pointed out that Keanu Reeves has played the character for nearly a decade, giving Stahelski years to perfect the actor’s on-screen techniques. Stahelski explained:

“I don’t think you understand what kind of time that takes.
We can use a few movie tricks, stunt doubles, editorial. But at the end of the day, you still have to believe it.
But when you see Keanu Reeves doing gunwork, that’s Keanu Reeves. When you see Keanu drive, that is Keanu driving the car.
And that has taken the better part of 10 years to get to that point.
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