Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 598 This is too much kung fu!
The male and female leads were quickly cast. In addition to Keanu Reeves as the male lead, the female lead was also quite famous. She was a relatively unknown model at the time, Julia Roberts, who looked like a perfect cheerleader when she stood in front of the camera.

Anyway, she didn't have many scenes, she was just a background character, so Gu Ming didn't care much. The focus was on the male lead, of course.

Keanu Reeves is known for his poor coordination, but fortunately, the aftereffects of his alcoholism and smoking are not yet severe enough to help him learn to pose. The rest can be left to his stunt double.

Tokyo, Minato Ward training ground.

Zhen Zidan struck a pose, then with a whoosh, launched a flying kick, sending the ball hanging on the shelf flying.

“Seriously, that makes sense!” Keanu Reeves exclaimed.

He's only twenty years old this year, still a very young man, so it's impossible for him not to be surprised by something like this.

Zhen Zidan mimicked Li Xiaolong wiping his nose, looking quite pleased with herself.

"Impressive, right? You don't need to go that far; just being able to lift your leg is enough!"

Hiroyuki Sanada, standing to the side, was quite annoyed.

Both of them speak English, and quite well! He couldn't really get a word in edgewise!

Zhen Zidan grew up abroad and for a long time spoke English better than Cantonese and Mandarin, allowing her to communicate seamlessly with Keanu Reeves.

The two Ye masters communicated very smoothly.

Keanu Reeves mimicked Zhen Zidan's movements, delivering a flying kick.

"How is it, Dennis?"

"Not good," Zhen Zidan answered truthfully. "When you kick, can you please not stick your neck out so much? It looks terrible. And you don't need to make such a big movement. Be gentle, like you're holding the moon in your arms, and kick your foot out from underneath..."

Zhen Zidan was trying very seriously to teach.

But a few minutes later, he realized that it was all for nothing.

The man in front of me has nothing but good looks. His physical coordination is practically nonexistent. Standing there, apart from being able to stand still, his hands and feet seem to be spherical parts of a BJD doll, making it difficult for him to move even a little.

This kind of posing gesture is best described in bold capital letters.

difficult!
"That's going too far! How dare you film an action movie when you're like this? What was Brother Gu thinking? You might as well let me be the male lead!"

Zhen Zidan was quite depressed.

It wasn't that he looked down on Keanu Reeves, but judging from the young man's performance, he'd be nothing more than a punching bag villain in an action movie. The kind of small fry who gets knocked away by a cannonball punch the moment he appears.

As for the face?
Zhen Zidan touched her face.

Zhen Zidan thought to herself, "He's quite handsome too!"
Keanu Reeves smoothed his long hair, then casually sat down off the court, exuding a melancholic air reminiscent of a stray dog.

He didn't want to either! He only came to the audition because he heard it was a youth film, but who would have thought that he would find out there were actually action scenes.

He thought it was some kind of sex scene in bed!
Keanu Reeves gets annoyed just thinking about it. He checks his pocket and finds only a pack of regular cigarettes, and his craving for a cigarette starts acting up again.

However, the kind of cigarette he wanted wasn't available in Japan.

"Practice some more. Although you can use a stunt double for action scenes, you can't be too bad. At least you have to be able to perform the action before the camera cuts."

As they were talking, Zhen Zidan looked up and immediately stood up.

"Brother Gugu".

"Are you all practicing? Keep practicing."

Gu Ming leaned closer for a look and was slightly surprised.

To be honest, Keanu Reeves just sits there and doesn't even need to act; he looks like the bullied male lead in a teen movie.

Some people may not be able to perform, they can only play themselves, but as long as they can play themselves well, that's enough.

"That's good, so there's no need for extra filming. Dennis, how's the training going?"

"Not good at all!! You don't know, this foreigner's arms and legs are like they weren't fully grown, no matter how you teach him, it's useless, he just can't learn!"

Zhen Zidan was furious when this was mentioned: "I've practiced kung fu for so long, and I've never seen anyone with such poor mobility!" "It's normal," Gu Ming said truthfully.

Later, when they were filming John Wick 4, you could see from their fight scenes that Donnie Yen had to hold back, afraid of actually killing Keanu Reeves.

In The Matrix, everyone else's fight is obvious, but Keanu Reeves' fight looks like he's not even fighting.

However, Keanu Reeves also has his strengths. The numerous CQB gunfight scenes in John Wick 1 completely avoid Keanu Reeves' weaknesses, since shooting doesn't require physical coordination.

"Let me see what's going on."

Gu Ming walked over, and Keanu Reeves sensed it, quickly got up, stomped on his cigarette butt twice, and coughed violently from the fumes.

Gu Ming smelled it and immediately recognized it as ordinary tobacco; it didn't have that particular aroma.

"Reeves, training doesn't seem to be going very well."

“I swear, Mr. Furia, I really, really tried my best, I…”

Keanu Reeves wanted to say something, but after gesturing wildly for a while, he could only hang his head dejectedly in the end.

"Yes, I'm not very good at this."

Suddenly, Gu Ming reached out and grabbed Keanu Reeves' shoulder, lifting him up sharply and bringing him close to his face. With a bit more force in his hand, he gave the long-armed, long-legged spider a sharp shake, arranging him into a three-stance stance reminiscent of karate.

"Spread your legs, raise your shoulders, lower your hands, inhale, inhale... exhale. Shout, punch."

Keanu Reeves was nearly shaken to his core by the impact, but he managed to regain his footing, tried to throw a punch, and shouted loudly.

“River Shit…”

Keanu Reeves exclaimed in surprise.

Is this some kind of kung fu? It's incredibly impressive!

Even the spirits that had just been low instantly lifted.

Gu Ming nodded slightly.

This looks somewhat presentable.

"You don't need to worry about how you learn karate, just make sure you look like one. Dennis, keep practicing. Sanada, keep teaching."

Hiroyuki Sanada and the other man nodded instantly.

He studied Kyokushin Karate under Shinichi Chiba. Although he wasn't a professional, he was definitely capable of fighting, and his stances were quite stylish, though he wasn't quite at Keanu Reeves' level.

After giving his instructions, Gu Ming took the last pack of cigarettes from Keanu Reeves' pocket.

Smoking and drinking are out of the question; we have to correct this bad habit of his.

Zhen Zidan shrugged: "It's good not to smoke. It's best not to smoke at all."

Keanu Reeves watched helplessly as his last pack of cigarettes was taken away. Just as he was about to speak, Zhen Zidan raised her hand to hit him, but Keanu Reeves immediately stopped.

If he had known that he would be here, where he couldn't drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or even touch any kind of herb, he wouldn't have come.

I don't know if he got paid, but he was charged over $700 for travel expenses, and he also ran out of cigarettes.

What’s the use!

The cigarettes are gone too.

Keanu Reeves swallowed, his throat inexplicably dry.

I really want to take a puff, I just can't resist!
These kinds of things aren't easy to quit. Like many American high school students, he's been exposed to these things for a long time, and even if his addiction isn't deep yet, it's really hard to break free all at once.

So much so that at this moment, all he wanted to do was shout.

Please, Mr. Furya! Just give me one more puff, I'll do anything!
(End of this chapter)