When Keanu Reeves Was Tricked To Star In The Watcher(Pic credit: Getty Images)
Advertisement
Keanu Reeves is an actor we all love watching on our screens owing to his powerful and outstanding performances in movies like The Matrix, The Devil’s Advocate, Knock Knock and more. But have you watched the Matrix actor in the 2000 thriller, The Watcher, by Joe Charbanic? Well, we don’t blame.
In fact, we got to know that The Lake House actor was tricked into playing the lead in the film. Not only that, Reeves even mentioned that his signature was forged on the agreement by a ‘friend.’ Read what transpired below.
So what exactly happened and how was an actor like Keanu Reeves tricked into playing the lead in The Wanted? Well, the ‘tricking’ incident goes back a few years before the film was made. While playing hockey with his – now (we think) former – friend, Joe Charbanic, Reeves verbally agreed to play a small role in the film.
This was reportedly done to help Charbanic obtain financing by using his name as Reeves’ star power worked pretty well.
Owing to Keanu Reeves names associated as an actor in The Watcher, the film got a budget of around $30 million. And that’s when thing went wrong for The Matrix actor. Reeves’ character was rewritten from a small role into a lead.
The actor said he considered backing out of the thriller, but was warned against it by his legal team who warned of a case where an actor broke a verbal agreement and ended up in a lengthened legal battle. Reeves later learned that his co-stars, James Spader and Marisa Tomei, were being paid around $1 million each, while he was being paid comparatively nothing. In an effort to maintain good relationships with Reeves, the film’s distributor, Universal, agreed to exclude the actor from marketing the film. The also requested Reeves to wait at least a year before publicly revealing his issues with the production.
Speaking about it, Keanu Reeves told the Calgary Sun newspaper, “I never found the script interesting, but a friend of mine forged my signature on the agreement. I couldn’t prove he did and I didn’t want to get sued, so I had no other choice but to do the film.”
The Watcher didn’t earn much more than its budget at the box office, but Reeves did go on to receive a Razzie nomination for his performance.
In other news, Keanu Reeves starrer Knock Knock has become the second most-watched film on Netflix. This Eli Roth directorial released in 2015, and also starred Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo.
