Reeves has never trained with the goal of simply adding size. Instead, his approach has always centred on becoming stronger and more resilient to cope with the repetitive physical demands of action films. That mindset began when he first started working with trainer Denise Snyder, whom he met while filming Point Break in 1991. The pair continued through The Matrix and the first John Wick, before Reeves later enlisted high-profile celebrity trainer Patrick Murphy.

Given the demands of the role, Murphy focused on developing Reeves’ strength using compound exercises performed in circuits, rather than bodybuilding-style isolation work. The aim was to build a body capable of handling high stress without overexertion or unnecessary injury risk.

‘Playing that role is very hard on his body,’ Murphy told Men’s Health. ‘He wasn’t lifting crazy heavy weights. It was about getting his body moving, building muscular endurance and stability. It was a mindset. He would leave the gym exhausted, but feeling great. Where his body really got beat up was in all those scenes [filming the movie].’

This high-volume approach, built around low-impact exercises, helped Reeves develop the strength-endurance needed to portray John Wick. ‘I would fit in, within the hour and a half, five to six circuits,’ Murphy added. ‘Just think of Keanu Reeves performing a thousand reps a workout, minimal rest, and it was just go time.’

That’s not all Reeves does in the gym. To help him cope with the overall training volume, Murphy also incorporated what he calls ‘restorative training’ into Reeves’ routine. This form of resistance training focuses on stabilisation, balance and alignment using cables and bands.

‘The exercises I prescribed influenced posture, alignment and stabilisation,’ Murphy explained.

This training approach supports Reeves’ martial arts practice, which has become increasingly central to how he moves on screen. Playing John Wick isn’t just acting. Over the course of his career, Reeves has developed real proficiency in disciplines including kung fu, jiu-jitsu, wushu and judo, beginning with his preparation for The Matrix.

Ahead of filming, Reeves reportedly spent four months training for four hours a day in kung fu and jiu-jitsu, working closely with choreographer Yuen Woo-ping to ensure his movements translated convincingly on camera. ‘We had to start from scratch training him from the basics, but he was very hardworking and put in a great deal of effort,’ Yuen Woo-ping told The Hollywood Reporter.

Reeves later added judo to his skill set for John Wick, a discipline that taught him how to harness strength through throws and grappling. ‘I had a little experience in movie fighting,’ Reeves told Men’s Journal, ‘but I’d never done judo… you really gotta throw someone.’

Now widely regarded as highly skilled across multiple combat disciplines, Reeves’ dedication has even influenced how he’s directed. Director Chad Stahelski previously told MH, ‘We kind of just threw away the actor thing and trained him as a stunt guy.’

Despite the workload, Reeves has been able to combine all elements of his training into structured days. While preparing for the second John Wick, he explained what his routine looked like.

‘In terms of training, it was fun. I mean, the directors come from a stunt background, and I’ve trained with them before,’ Reeves told ScreenRant. ‘So it was working with someone on pistols and arms, the stunt-driving, the jiu-jitsu. It was basically 9 in the morning, train until like 1pm or 2pm, eat lunch, lift weights, train again, and do that five or six days a week.’

Ana de Armas finally explains her real relationship with Keanu Reeves

Ana de Armas Opens Up About Her “Beautiful Friendship” With Keanu Reeves; Becoming an Action Star by Accident

Ana de Armas reflected on her long friendship with Keanu Reeves and her unexpected evolution into an action star during an “In Conversation” session at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival on Friday, offering an intimate, career-spanning look at her rise from Cuba to global Hollywood star.

De Armas said she and Reeves first met when she arrived in Los Angeles over a decade ago and landed her first U.S. part on Eli Roth’s Knock Knock. “When I first moved to L.A., we did Knock Knock together, and at that time I barely spoke English,” she recalled. “It was kind of a frustrating journey not being able to fully communicate, but we still had a great time. We bonded really well, and we have a beautiful friendship.”

She described Reeves as “incredibly kind and generous,” suggesting that he was one of the first people to make her feel welcome in Hollywood. Reuniting with Reeves for Ballerina, the recently released John Wick spinoff, was especially meaningful: “It felt full circle. Keanu and Chad [Stahelski] have built such a beautiful world with those films, and having him there, supporting me ten years later, meant a lot.”

Discussing her role in Ballerina, De Armas said her evolution into an action star was entirely unplanned. “I never thought of myself as athletic or imagined I’d do action movies,” she said. “It started with No Time to Die, then The Gray Man and Ghosted, and Ballerina was another level — very challenging, very demanding. But it was also an exciting character to play, and I really loved expanding that universe.”

The actress went on to describe the intense physical preparation the role required. “The training was brutal,” she said. “It went on for months before shooting and continued during filming. There’s no time to rehearse everything, so you’re learning and adapting on the spot. It was exhausting — but I enjoyed it. I learned so much.”

Throughout her talk, De Armas talked through the full sweep of her career, tracing it back to her childhood in Cuba, where she grew up performing with neighborhood friends. “I had a very happy childhood — very free and very social,” she said. “We would perform for our neighbors, do dances, and I was even in a Spice Girls group. I always knew I wanted to be an actress. There was no Plan B.”

At theater school in Havana, she made her screen debut while still a student. “Students weren’t supposed to work, but I auditioned and got the part,” she said. “I had to take a year off school, and it was hard to leave my friends, but being on set taught me more than being in class.”

After saving some money from her early films, De Armas made the bold choice to move to Madrid, Spain at age 18, on her own, to chase bigger opportunities. “I had saved some money from the movies I had done in Cuba — I think it was 300 euros,” she recalled. “At that time, in Cuba, 300 euros was a lot of money, so I thought that was going to be sufficient. And then I arrived in Spain and realized it wasn’t going to last long at all.” She slept on a friend’s couch for a few months until landing a role in a hit Spanish TV series, which quickly made her a household name. That success brought fame, but also frustration. “Because of that show, I was playing the same kind of young-girl roles for years,” she said. “I love Spanish cinema and Spanish directors, but I wasn’t getting the film work I wanted. That’s when I felt I had to leave.”

She took another leap by relocating to Los Angeles. “I moved with three suitcases and my dog,” she said. “I didn’t speak English — zero. It was the most humbling thing I’ve ever done. No one knew who I was, and my work in Spain and Cuba didn’t exist there. But I decided that if I was going to make it work, I had to give it everything.”

She felt her breakthrough truly came with Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, which she called “a dream.”

“Working with Denis, Ryan [Gosling], Harrison Ford and cinematographer Roger Deakins was incredible,” she said. “Denis is one of my favorite directors, very thoughtful, very sensitive. The way he communicates, the way he sits down and works through every scene with his actors, makes the process so special. I felt like a kid on set again.”

From there came No Time to Die. “Those fifteen minutes on screen changed my life,” she said. “Cary Fukunaga called me and said, ‘There’s no script yet, but there’s going to be a Cuban agent.’ And I said, ‘If there’s a Cuban agent in a Bond film, it’s going to be me.’” She added, laughing, that she had just finished filming Andrew Dominick’s Blonde and carried some of her Marilyn Monroe voice into her role on the Bond film. “Paloma still had a little bit of Marilyn in her — it just came out naturally,” she said. “It made her even more fun.”

Her portrayal of Monroe in Blonde earned her an Academy Award nomination and, she said, transformed her as an actress. “It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done, but also the most beautiful,” she explained. “Andrew [Dominik] pushed me to go to places I didn’t know I could go. It was nine months of research and preparation — learning Marilyn’s voice, her movement, her energy. It changed the way I approach acting.”

Near the end of her hour-long appearance, De Armas reflected on her continuing search for challenging material — and the new kind of typecasting she now occasionally faces. She said that after years of fighting to escape predictable roles early in her career, she’s aware of the risk of being pigeonholed again, this time by her recent success in action movies.

“Sometimes what the industry offers is not what I want to do,” she said. “It’s me who has to chase what’s next. Sometimes I feel like people think Blonde was a fluke, that somehow I just did it. But I’ve always been the one looking for what I want to do instead of waiting for what they offer. I’m not here to play it safe.”

The Red Sea Film Festival continues through to Dec. 13.

Ana de Armas finally explains her real relationship with Keanu Reeves

At the Red Sea International Film Festival, Ana de Armas didn’t hold back. She eased into her story with the kind of honesty reporters love — a blend of reflection, small asides, and just enough vulnerability to feel real. And at the center of that story, once again, was Keanu Reeves.

Ana de Armas traced their friendship back to the chaos of her early Los Angeles days, when she barely spoke English and somehow found herself sharing scenes with Keanu Reeves in Knock Knock.

She admitted the communication gaps were frustrating, but even then, something clicked. He made the work lighter, she said. He made Hollywood feel less intimidating.

The audience laughed when Ana de Armas called their bond “accidentally full-circle.”

Reuniting with Keanu Reeves for Ballerina, almost ten years later, felt like a quiet reassurance that she was on the right path. He showed up with the same steady support he offered when she was still figuring out who she was in the industry.

She shifted briefly to how she ended up doing action films at all, calling it “one of those things that just happened.” No Time to Die opened the door, The Gray Man pushed her further, and Ballerina, where she again worked alongside Keanu Reeves, pushed her to her limits.

The training was brutal, she said, but she loved surprising herself.

Between career milestones, Ana de Armas shared small flashes of her Cuba-to-Spain-to-Hollywood journey, the school plays, the move to Madrid at 18 with almost no money, the decision to restart her career in Los Angeles where no one knew her name.

Her breakthrough came with Blade Runner 2049, and then Blonde, which she said changed her as an actress.

Before wrapping up, Ana de Armas addressed the question she knows everyone wonders about: her dynamic with Keanu Reeves. It isn’t romantic, she stressed. It’s respect, history, and the rare kind of Hollywood friendship that actually lasts.