When “John Wick: The Ballerinas” hits theaters in June, it will be the first installment in an ever-expanding series that doesn’t feature Keanu Reeves’ titular killer. Instead, Reeves passes the baton (or rather the Glock) to Ana de Armas and her character Eve Macarro, who the team believes is convoluted and nuanced in her own right, and not just a female clone of John Wick.
De Armas leads a cast of newcomers that includes Norman Reedus and Gabriel Byrne, as well as returning faces Reeves, Ian McShane, Anjelica Houston and the delayed Lance Reddick.
On the heels wild panel in CCXP last week in São Paulo, Brazil, most of the cast, along with director Len Wiseman, sat down with IGN to talk about building on the franchise’s mythology, whether de Armas could take on Reeves, and how they made a John Wick movie without John Wick himself in the lead role .
IGN: At the CCXP panel, fans were really excited to see you all.
Ian McShane (Winston Scott): Delicious. It was delicious.
IGN: With all this energy, what do you think will surprise and excite them about The Ballerina?
Ana de Armas (even Macarro): It is (a) up-to-date perspective on this world. It’s a change of perspective and a up-to-date point of view on the world we already know and love. But this time (it’s) thanks to Ewa’s experience. We’ll see the connection and timeline as it intertwines with John Wick.
Len Wiseman (director): One of the things that was very significant early on was that I wasn’t planning on making a female John Wick, that John Wick was John Wick. It’s a completely different character, a kick in itself. (She) is a up-to-date character in the world, not someone who imitates what John Wick does.
IGN: John Wick appears in some form in The Ballerina…
Norman Reedus (Daniel Pine): Appears in human form. In human form.
Wise: Eve wants to become an assassin. (She) starts with Russian Roma, trains and becomes an assassin. John Wick is actually trying to get out of the world. This became the basis of what really made him stand out.
McShane: It’s up-to-date but natural. I mean, don’t forget that we’ve met this character before as a girl, but now we’re getting to know her as an adult. So my character has been watching her all these years. So when he shows up, (he tries to) kind of talk her out of the mission, like John always does. Winston is always, always mysterious. And it is also a natural thing. It’s nice to turn around, instead of looking at Keanu, I look at this wonderful…
Weapons: Keanu is wonderful,
McShane: Oh, he’s gorgeous too.
Weapons: Keanu is wonderful too. We love him.
IGN: Norman, was there anything in particular that made you decide to join this franchise?
Reedus: Well, I’m already a huge fan. I’ve worked with Len before. I’m friends with Keanu. I’m also a huge fan of Ana’s and the entire series. I mean, it’s cold to be a part of this world, so it was a no-brainer for me.
IGN: Ana, you’re no stranger to fight scenes. Can you compare what you did in Ballerina to what you did in Paloma In No Time To Die? Has your approach to action scenes changed?
Weapons: It’s a completely different character. I mean, I loved Paloma. I would really like to spend more time in the movie and…
McShane: No, it was perfect. Everyone wanted her to come back, but she never did. But now you’re back as a full-fledged “Paloma Two!”
Weapons: (With) Eve, her motivation behind all of this is pain. In this case, I also had time to sink my teeth into fighting and really had time to get better at it. Not just three weeks of training. I trained for four or five months. So it was really intense, and the stakes of the fights, the level of detail and so on.
These are very intricate, complicated battles with very inventive things that I have around me to figure out how to defend myself in this male-dominated world. So there’s less humor, but also (in) the John Wick universe (there is) this kind of humor or irony in these scenes. And some things are so crazy that you have to laugh at them because they’re bananas.
IGN: As the series progressed, the mythology became larger and more convoluted. When you’re filming this movie, how do you balance that with the action scenes that John Wick movies are eminent for?
Wise: One of the things that is unique about this series is the mythology and world building. There would be many conversations (with Chad Stahelski, director of the four John Wick and Keanu films) about this. We’d say, “what if we developed this section that’s new to the world?” And so there is balance. It’s great fun. I love world building. So it’s a challenge, but also great fun.
McShane: The mythology behind it has always been steeped in some cinematic reality. That’s why people love them. The lights go out (for) two hours, you go somewhere else, then the lights come on and you should feel like you’ve been somewhere (different), a little deeper each time. Fans are so obsessed with social media that they want to know the answer to everything that happens in the movie.
Weapons: When we met John Wick, he was already who he was and we didn’t see him become that person. We didn’t see him in Ruska Roma. What was the training and preparation like? And we see this through Eve. What does it mean to be protected by them or to be an outsider? What are the consequences? If you break the rules, who can aid you? Who can you trust? So for me it was captivating to delve a little deeper into the origins of becoming an assassin.
McShane: I know that (writers) Chad (Stahelski) and Michael (Finch) and Shay (Batten) kill every character except Keanu every time. There are many versions until they decide what it should look like next. If we do another one, I will obviously miss my dear friend Lance Reddick. God bless you brother. However, it will be an appropriate testimony to his character. And he was a wonderful man. He was a wonderful man.
IGN: Norman, you’ve been involved in projects before that had a really dedicated fan base.
Reedus: I think the first time I experienced a rabid fan base was with Boondock Saints. This film, although not released in theaters, was the most rented DVD hit in history, after “Titanic”. We shot it for about $7 million. He became so successful because of his huge fan base.
(For) The Walking Dead, that fan base is crazy. Death Stranding even has a crazy fan base. Obviously (John Wick) has a crazy fan base. Every time you check into a hotel, you’re on a plane, John Wick is playing. I’m sure it will be the same here. So stop the madness. That’s great.
IGN: When preparing for a role like the one in Ballerina, do you approach it differently than you would when you’re involved in something like Death Stranding?
Reedus: It’s apples and oranges. (Ballerina) is very physical and very mathematical when it comes to action scenes. There are many people who aid put these types of things together and make them sheltered and spectacular.
(The) people playing Death Stranding are sitting behind a computer, the walls are blue, and I’m wearing a tight Lycra suit with a camera and balls all over it. And Hideo will “take this doll and cry.” And I said, “Why?” And he said, “Look, a whale is swimming by.” They are completely different. There is nothing to hold on to in Death Stranding.
IGN: Ana trained a lot, just like Keanu did for all his films. Could you choose between Ana and Keanu if they faced each other? Who would win?
Wise: John Wick. John Wick is Baba Yaga. He was a figure of Eve. She is growing. He’s starting to train, so we’ll check it out in a few years.
Reedus: There’s John Wick, then there’s Keanu. If these conditions crossed, maybe she would win because John would say, “I can’t. You can have it.” You know what I mean?
IGN: Ana, with all this training, do you think you could beat Keanu if it came down to it in a fight?
Weapons: No, he is God. Keanu is God. This is Baba Yaga.
This excerpt is a composite of two separate interviews and has been edited for clarity.
