'John Wick 4' star Rina Sawayama says that Keanu Reeves 'looked after me a lot' after she threw out her back on set
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- Rina Sawayama said that her "John Wick: Chapter 4" costar Keanu Reeves was supportive.
- Sawayama said that Reeves "knew that it was my first movie and looked after me a lot."
- That included after the singer-actor threw out her back during her first week on set.
Rina Sawayama said that her "John Wick: Chapter 4" costar, franchise lead Keanu Reeves, made sure that she was doing alright on the set of the film.
"John Wick: Chapter 4" represents Sawayama's film debut, though the actor has already made a name for herself in the music industry with genre-bending releases like her 2020 album "Sawayama" and 2022's "Hold The Girl."
The Japanese-British artist told USA Today that Reeves "knew that it was my first movie and looked after me a lot."
"I threw out my back during the first week and he made sure that everything was available for me to get better," Sawayama told USA Today.
Sawayama plays Akira in "John Wick: Chapter 4," the concierge of the Osaka Continental who defends it alongside her father Shimazu (played by legendary Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada).
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As Sawayama said on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon," the film's director Chad Stahelski called her about starring in the film after he and Reeves watched two of her music videos: "XS," in which Sawayama transforms into a malfunctioning, robotic home shopping host, and "Bad Friend," a black-and-white affair in which Sawayama plays a salaryman who gets into a bar fight.
According to Sawayama, she had five weeks of training for the film and got back on track after throwing out her back. Stahelski told The Los Angeles Times that "stress does not get to Rina," who quickly picked up her stunts.
"What doing 'John Wick' taught me was that I could push my physical limits," Sawayama told USA Today. "I still tap into that mental strength when I'm tired and have to get up on stage or am feeling a little under the weather. I'm like, 'No, you did that stunt at 2 a.m. wearing a tight leather suit. If you can do that, you can do this!'"