“I started losing feeling and balance”: Matrix Star Keanu Reeves Hid His Spinal Injury to Not Lose $10 Million Payday, Secretly Shot Fight Scenes With a Neck Plate

Taking a trip down memory lane, John Wick star Keanu Reeves revealed a terrifying secret while filming his 1999 sci-fi, The Matrix. Appearing on The Art of Action podcast, Reeves discussed his early career and the extent he went through to land breathtaking Hollywood opportunities. Offering an insight into his action world, the 58-year-old revealed his game-changing action foreplay in The Matrix.

Taking a lengthy retrospect, Keanu Reeves discussed how he challenged his major injury during the auditions for the 1999 sci-fi. Discussing the extent he went through to land his role in the billion-dollar franchise, Keanu Reeves admitted to keeping a secret for four months throughout the training period. 

Also read: 5 Things The Matrix Resurrections Does Better Than The Trilogy

Keanu Reeves Discussed His Role As Neo

With John Wick 4 being a box-office hit movie, the humble hero of Hollywood, Keanu Reeves, appears in The Art of Action podcast with co-star Scott Adkins. Taking a dig into his initial years in Hollywood, the 58-year-old looked down the boulevard of memories. Discussing the milestones of his early career, Reeves offered an insight into his world of action. 

Recalling moments from his 1999 next-level hit sci-fi movie The Matrix, Reeves revealed a scary secret. Agreeing to play the role of Thomas Anderson/Neo, wasn’t really easy for Keanu Reeves. With the fact that Neo was literally considered a God from the virtual world, Reeves had to keep up with the training process. However, that’s where the catch was. 

Training harder with more intensity than before, the years of bruises and wounds took a toll on the actor, leaving him in a difficult situation. Completely smitten with the script and desperate for the role, Keanu Reeves couldn’t simply reject the part. Thus, comes the major intervention, that no one apparently knew. 

Also read: The Matrix: History Of The One Before Neo, Explained

Keanu Reeves’ Major Secret While Shooting The Matrix 

Opening up about The Matrix, Keanu Reeves’ expressed his desperation for the role. Thus, his co-star Scott Adkins revealed the actor’s spinal injury which was kept a secret by Reeves, so as to not lose the opportunity. Sitting for the podcast, Reeves discussed, “I met with the Wachowskis and I loved the script…and one of the things they talked about in the meeting was training in Hong Kong-style martial arts”. 

Discussing the entire situation, Reeves mentioned, the directors “asked if I was okay with that, and that it was over four months and I was like ‘yeah, that sounds okay’.” Further revealing, “The only problem – I was dealing with a neck issue which was getting worse, I’d spent a couple of years fighting it off, I was getting tingling.” 

“I had done a film called Chain Reaction in Chicago and had a couple of epidurals put in, shot up in the spine. I had a bulging disc and I had a fractured disc too, and I started losing feeling and balance.” Keanu Reeves discussed his physical issues. 

Reeves eventually opened up about all his injuries and health issues he faced while filming. 

“And so I said yes to The Matrix and the four months of training, but it was pretty bad so I went to a neck doctor, and basically I had spinal stenosis too.” Keanu Reeves stated. 

Finally addressing the secret he kept from all, the 58-year-old stated, “But I never actually told anyone because I didn’t want to tell anyone I wouldn’t be able to do the film.” Adding on, Reeves mentioned, “They put the plate in my neck and told me to start moving right away. I had to train for the Matrix in a neck brace.” 

But in the end, it all seems worth it for Keanu Reeves. Not only his surgery was successful, but even The Matrix smashed the box office and became one of the greatest sci-fi movies. 

Read more: Returning from the Land of the Dead: Neo and Trinity in Matrix 4!

Source: Collider