Keanu Reeves takes silence to another level with only 380 words in nearly three hours of John Wick: Chapter 4

According to a recent, report from The Wall Street Journal, Keanu Reeves' unstoppable assassin in John Wick: Chapter 4 speaks a total of only 380 words over the course of 103 dialogue lines. The actor took silent but deadly to another level by choosing just a single word in the film that has a runtime of nearly three hours (169 minutes).

As reported by Wall Street Journal, “In the first installment, clocking in at 101 minutes, Mr. Reeves said a total of 484 words. With a run time of 169 minutes, the fourth movie pushes three hours but features just 380 words by Wick. About 10% of them are featured in the movie’s trailer, which makes the hero seem almost chatty; Wick says more in that 2.5 minute clip than he does in the first 25 minutes of the movie itself.”

The outlet further notes that the film’s director Chad Stahelski and Reeves “stripped out roughly half the dialogue written for his character in the initial script.” For instance, the scene between John Wick and the villainous Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) was scripted with Wick having 50% of the dialogue in the scene. Reeves cut short the dialogues so that the character only has one-word responses in the scene.

“It’s a shock when you work with him how dedicated he is to not speaking,” the film’s co-screenwriter Michael Finch told the outlet. John Wick’s longest run of dialogue in the movie is just a sentence, which John Wick tells his friend Shimazu Koji, “You and I left a good life behind a long time ago, my friend.” Director Chad Stahelski's sequel is possibly the most daring installment in the franchise, featuring some of Keanu Reeves' career-defining stunts and grueling action scenes.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is now playing in theaters.

Also Read: Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski dedicate John Wick: Chapter 4 to late costar Lance Reddick