Keanu Reeves has starred in multiple action films over the years. Being an action star, one is often tasked to learn new techniques or skill sets to prepare for their roles. After being part of franchises like The Matrix and John Wick, Reeves had to prepare comprehensively to perfectly nail his action sequences.

Keanu Reeves is now a trained sword fighter
Despite being an acclaimed action star, the Speed actor had to learn a very new and different skill for his $151.7 million film. Even though the film fared poorly among the critics, they applauded Reeves exceptional work fighting ability to fight the tallest man in Britain in the film.

When Keanu Reeves Learned A Difficult Sword Fighting Technique

Keanu Reeves in a still from the film 47 Ronin
Keanu Reeves made headlines when he was cast as a mixed heritage character in the critically panned 47 Ronin. Based on the actual story of a group of samurais, the film contains impressive action scenes, historical Japanese elements, and supernatural forces. While critics lauded the film as devoid of historical accuracies and any real story, the film remains popular among fans.

Keanu Reeves, who played a mixed-blood samurai, had to learn to fight with the real Japanese sword called Katana. It was his co-star Hiroyuki Sanada who trained him to use a proper Samurai sword and perform exhaustively difficult sword fighting sequences. Sanada, who is a trained sword fighter himself, went over several weeks of training with Reeves.

The John Wick star explained how Reeves was dealing with multiple old injuries he had sustained from training and doing stunts for his previous films. Despite the physical pain, the star continued training with a dedication like no other that even shocked Sanada.

Even though the movie performed badly at the box office, Reeves’s performance was applauded and his action sequence, particularly his sword fighting techniques was enjoyed by the general audience and fans.

Keanu Reeves Had To Fight The Tallest Man In Britain

The fighting sequence, where Reeves had to fight Fingleton
Among the many challenging things Keanu Reeves had to perform in 47 Ronin, fighting the tallest man in Britain was the toughest. The star had to fight Neil Fingleton who stood at an impressive height of 7’7. Reeves had a hard time since he was over a foot and a half shorter than Fingleton. In an interview, the John Wick star stated about the challenging experience,
“That’s the challenge. How do you fight someone that tall? In terms of attack, for me it’s about working high and low. You go for the feet, you try to get inside. Neil’s a professional athlete and has command of his physical skills, even if he started without much experience in stunt fighting.”
Despite the physical challenges, Reeves did exceptionally well and solidified his stature as a capable action star even more.

47 Ronin is available on Netflix.