Keanu Reeves stuntman praises selfless actor, says 'every good thing you’ve heard about him is 110% true'
A stuntman, best known for doubling for Keanu Reeves and performing epic car stunts on all three John Wick movies, recently revealed that all the nice things we have heard about the actor is actually true. Jeremy Fry, who has also doubled for many Hollywood stars, said that he has developed something of a bond with Reeves over the course of their work together. Talking with Metro.co.uk as part of its new series, 'Seeing Double', Fry said: “[Reeves] He is a giver, he is selfless, he works tirelessly. Every good thing you’ve heard about him is 110% true,” adding the 55-year-old was often self-critical and keen to get stunts spot on.
There are several stories on the internet that describe the good nature and kindness of Reeves. It has been said the ‘Knock Knock’ star is very respectful towards women and frequently hovers his hands above their lower back instead of grabbing them. In June 2019, his fans on Twitter noticed his good habit and called Reeves a “respectful king”. Another example of him being kind and considerate was when he gave up his seat on the crowded New York City subway to a woman with a large bag. While another report claimed the actor secretly donates a huge amount of money to children's hospitals. He anonymously runs a private charitable foundation that aims to help sick children
Fry also mentioned how he and Reeves bonded over their love for motorcycles. “He goes, ‘Hey, how would you like to go to Laguna Seca?’ and when Keanu Reeves asks you if you wanna go pretty much anywhere, you say yes. Turns out he had rented Laguna Seca, which is a very well-known popular racetrack in California, and he rented it for two days, private rental, there were about eighty of his friends and people he knew. There were celebrities there, people from different industries there, a huge cross-section of people. He put us up in local hotels, he catered breakfast, lunch, dinners,” Fry, who started his stunt career in 2001, recalled.
Fry said ‘The Matrix’ star not just invited him to Laguna Seca, but he even let him bring his brother too. “That was a very special time for me for many different reasons,” he told the site.
Fry also revealed Reeves’ professional side on sets and his understanding of other people’s decisions and sentiments. “There was a shot where we wanted Keanu to slide up the camera and we wanted to…have the camera comes right up to him. And we worked with him for a while on that one, and it’s a tricky one [but] he nailed it. He did such a good job on that.” He added: “It’s always interesting to me when actors want to do their own stunts… when you have people who you can use and you won’t know that it’s not them.
“But Keanu, he completely gets that. He has never said, 'I want to do that. I want to do it.' He trusts Darren and [director Chad Stahelski] to make the best decision that they can and he knows that they will use him whenever they feel it’s appropriate and safe.”
Later in the interview, Fry disclosed his feelings about doing stunts. “I will never get to a situation where I feel like I’m rolling the dice. I might have the initial feeling like “Oh, man, this could be really bad. But then when you really think about it, and I really process and evaluate it, I go ‘Okay, this gag has been done before many times. I have all the safeties in place. There’s plenty of people far smarter and more intelligent than I that have signed off on this.” he stated.
Continuing further, Fry said: “I would say that I never have and I never would do anything where I felt like I was risking my life or anyone else’s,” but he admitted, “Over the course of my job I’ve definitely been sitting in the car going, “Oh man, I can’t wait until this is over, why didn’t I become an accountant like my mum always suggested?”‘