Keanu Reeves Has A Surprising Pick For His Best Movie Role

Keanu Reeves has spent the last decade gradually becoming a national treasure. The star of The Matrix, John Wick, and Bill & Ted is a hugely charismatic presence onscreen and only seems to get cooler as he gets older. But of all the characters he’s played over the years, there’s one that he considers his “best role”: John Constantine.

That’s surprising, because for many 2005’s Constantine was a letdown. Fans of the character were dismayed that the movie ditched the character’s British origins in favor of making him American, and beyond that, the film itself simply wasn’t very good.

There’s a couple of high points. Peter Stormare and Tilda Swinton were excellent as Lucifer and Gabriel and there are a bunch of imaginative visual effects. But Reeves was generally considered a bad fit for the role at the time, so why does he hold it so dear to his heart?

In the interview with BT, Reeves cites Constantine’s anger and drive as what makes him remember it so fondly. This marked a change from his previous roles and would have given him something new to chew on as an actor. What he learned here was likely a key part of figuring out John Wick’s burning desire for revenge, so Constantine really did expand Reeves’ skills in front of the camera.

In 2020 there seemed to be some talk of a sequel, though we haven’t heard anything for a while. In the meantime, Matt Ryan has said his time as John is over as of the next season of Legends of Tomorrow, as he’s going to be playing someone else. But Constantine will soon be popping up in Netflix’s adaptation of The Sandman, where a gender-flipped version will be played by Doctor Who‘s Jenna Coleman.

I’d love to see Keanu Reeves return to the role someday, so let’s hope that long-delayed Constantine sequel finally happens.