American actor Jonathan Groff, who joined the 'Matrix' franchise in the latest instalment, has said that "all of the rumours are true" about co-star Keanu Reeves' "level of work ethic" when it comes to training and pulling off action scenes and stunts.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Groff, who plays a new version of Hugo Weaving's villain Agent Smith, recalled, "He was there training and getting ready before all of us got there."
He added, "My first day in the training tent, Keanu was in his jiu-jitsu outfit doing kicks and punches. I mean, he really sets the bar for all of us in the training. When the fight was happening, I also really wanted to be able to be present and to be trading energy back and forth with Keanu as Neo. I didn't want to be focusing on the moves. I wanted to know it so well so I could actually play it."
Groff, a Broadway actor also known for TV roles on 'Looking' and his vocal role in 'Frozen', said one of his pivotal fight sequences with the 'John Wick' star was "like performing a really complex wonderful piece of music or an incredibly intricate pas de deux."
"It was so exciting to be doing such extraordinary fight choreography with the greatest action star of our time and someone that's so devoted to their craft," he said of Reeves, adding, "I really tried to take in every single moment of getting to be with Keanu and I learned so much from working with him. It's an experience I'll hold in my heart for the rest of my life."
Groff recalled how he and Reeves would get so into their fight scenes that they would sometimes carry on even after director Lana Wachowski called "cut."
"We got part of the way through this sequence that we were doing and she said, 'Cut!' And then Keanu did the next move and then I did the next move, and then Keanu did the next move and then I did the next move. The cameras were no longer rolling, but we were so in the zone with each other that we just kept doing it for the joy of it and for ourselves," he remembered.
Groff continued, "This was when I really felt Keanu in such a big way. This guy really does it because he loves to do it, and I also got so much joy out of just doing it whether or not the cameras were rolling. So it was a moment I'll never forget. ... It's sort of like when you're in the high school play and you don't want to go home from rehearsal. It's real joy and passion for what you do. So I really felt that coming off of him and I was also experiencing it myself."
The fourth film in the franchise, 'The Matrix Resurrections', now playing in theatres and streaming on HBO Max, also stars Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Neil Patrick Harris, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Jessica Henwick, as per People magazine.
( With inputs from ANI )
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