Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of ‘John Wick’, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch – the two directors of the film had an interview with Business Insider to share interesting things about this work that few people know.

One of the most surprising stories of John Wick is related to the beard of the male lead Keanu Reeves. According to Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, the film’s sponsors wanted the actor born in 1964 to be clean -shaven like his previous famous roles in Point Break , Speed ​​or The Matrix instead of having a messy beard and hair.

Little-known stories about Keanu Reeves' trademark beard in 'John Wick' - Photo 1.

Keanu Reeves’ cold and rugged image in John Wick left a strong impression on the audience.

PHOTO: VARIETY

“At that time, the powers that be told us you can’t cover the face of the lead actor with a beard,” Chad Stahelski revealed. “I don’t want to get into that, but we’ve had some tough conversations since then. ‘He needs to be clean-shaven for his international debut,’ that was the studio’s mantra.”

The 56-year-old director said his team received a lot of criticism for refusing to let Keanu Reeves shave his beard, because the filmmakers wanted the audience to see this character as not the romantic hero Keanu Reeves they were familiar with before.

“We felt like they couldn’t fire us, so on the first day of filming, we showed Keanu Reeves the look we wanted. When they saw the footage, everyone really liked it,” Chad Stahelski recalled.

Little-known stories about Keanu Reeves' trademark beard in 'John Wick' - Photo 2.

Chad Stahelski and David Leitch fought to retain the most unique qualities of the classic film.

PHOTO: VARIETY

Keanu Reeves’ beard remained intact and became one of the main character’s most recognizable features. The two directors also had to fight hard to get the scene where John Wick’s dog is killed in the theatrical release. Studio executives were concerned that the scene might cause a negative reaction from audiences.

Meanwhile, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch argued that ignoring the dog’s death meant that John Wick lost the most important motivation to ignite his violent revenge. So the two fought hard to keep the scene and let the audience see the warm and gentle side of John Wick’s personality.