John Wick 4 was released in theatres recently, and with every installment the franchise seems to get bigger and better. The larger-than-life franchise had an incredibly successful and potentially final chapter. With every film doing better than its predecessor, it’s not surprising that Keanu Reeves’ paycheck has also been getting bigger. What is slightly surprising though, is the number of lines given to the actor.
With each John Wick installment, it seems that Reeves’ dialogues have been getting shorter and shorter. In the first film of the John Wick franchise, the actor had a total of 484 words scripted for his character. However, in the 4th (and most recent) installment, the actor took home a whopping $15 Million for the film after a grand total of only 380 words spoken by him in the 3-hour runtime.
Also Read: Keanu Reeves Earns $40,000 For Speaking One Word in His Potential Final John Wick Movie
Johnny Depp Did It First, in Edward Scissorhands
While it seems insane to think Keanu Reeves made millions with just a few hundred words of dialogue, Johnny Depp pulled off something similar with less than 200 words.
Edward Scissorhands (1990) was the first project of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, the first of many more to come. Depp played the lead, ie. Edward, a man created by a lonely inventor whose untimely death leaves Edward incomplete and alone, with scissors for hands. It was a story written by Tim Burton and Caroline Thompson. Tim Burton established his place in Hollywood with his unique gothic elements, bright colors, and light horror.
Thompson told Insider, that Edward was always going to be a non-verbal character, who would display a great deal of emotion just with his eyes.
“Edward was just a pair of eyes in terms of emotion.”
Thompson said that, thankfully, Depp understood this and “delivered a beautiful, beautiful performance.”
In the role, Depp spoke up to 150 words at the very most and made $1.5 million for the film.
Tim Burton Almost Cast Tom Cruise for Edward Scissorhands
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have worked together extensively over the past two decades. They have created some impactful projects such as Alice in Wonderland, Sleepy Hollow, Dark Shadows, The Corpse Bride, and more. The duo just seems to work seamlessly every time they get together.
While the actor-director duo has worked together on multiple projects together, Edward Scissorhands was the film that gave the first big push to Depp’s acting career. So fans were shocked to learn that the iconic character was almost given to Tom Cruise.
Eventually, the directors thought he was too inquisitive about things, wanted to put his own spin on the written ending, and on a much lighter note, wanted to know how Edward used the bathroom. They had a huge gap in their creative vision, and Burton didn’t want such a demanding actor. Hence, the role was eventually given to Johnny Depp.
Source: Insider
