Romancing the dreamy Keanu Reeves was an opportunity that most actresses did not want to let go of. But Diane Keaton thought the pairing of her and The Matrix actor for Something’s Gotta Give wasn’t going to sit right with audiences due to the significant age gap. Since then the actress has time and again admitted to the fact how embarrassing it would be for her on the sets, to lock lips with Reeves. Although the film would focus on the leads, Jack Nicholson and Keaton herself for the entirety of the time, her worry about the pairing was one of the factors she wanted to back out.
On a separate occasion, Reeves’ co-star on The Matrix also shared an odd coincidence that keeps happening between them every eight years!
Diane Keaton Was Embarrassed to Kiss Keanu Reeves
Romancing two heroes for Something’s Gotta Give was tough for Diane Keaton. The embarrassment she experienced was like no other. The actress felt deeply embarrassed to lock lips with Jack Nicholson as well as Keanu Reeves and had different reasons for them respectively. Kissing the former was especially awkward in the beginning but with time, the actor developed a special bond, after sharing the same ‘horrors’ together. She explained,
Jack and I were humiliated most of the time–There was so much kissing and all this time in bed. We felt so much terror about being so exposed, and we got to be so close because of that”
But with Keanu, it was entirely different, the actress could not convince herself to kiss the actor due to the age gap. And felt very out of place at all times, speaking on the topic to LA Times she said,
“Kissing Keanu in the movie was really fun but horribly embarrassing. As soon as they said ‘cut,’ we’d both run to opposite sides of the room,”
She then also further shared her experience with the Sydney Morning Herald, stating,
“It was pretty embarrassing, and for Keanu, too,—It has to do with time of life. It’s instinctive – [while kissing him] you go, ‘Uh, probably not!’ And Keanu was going, ‘Definitely not!’ He was trying to be polite. But he’s so beautiful, it’s stupefying. It was a guilty pleasure. A very guilty pleasure.”
There also were several other looming worries Keaton had, upon hearing the idea for the first time from the director, Nancy Meyers. She then went on to list all of them one by one to the director, she said,
“Nobody’s gonna make a movie about two middle-aged people that fall in love, where a man likes the older woman over the younger woman. Where a guy actually changes. And even if they did get it made, you’re never gonna get Jack. And if you get him, no one’s gonna want me.’”
But is glad that she was proved wrong eventually as the film was loved by the critics and also was a box office hit.
Monica Bellucci and Keanu Reeves Kiss Every Eight Years
The actress Monica Bellucci who portrayed the character of Persephone in The Matrix trilogy had to lock lips with Reeves a bunch of times and realized a peculiar thing. Prior to working on The Matrix Reloaded, the two also shared the screen in the 1992 movie, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and have also locked lips there, thus the actress said,
“Keanu is a good kisser, so it wasn’t painful. Nine years ago, when I did Bram Stoker’s Dracula and I was just a model, I had to kiss Keanu in that. Every eight years, I kiss Keanu Reeves.”
Although unfortunately, the two actors did not end up kissing each other eight years after that, even though the two worked on the 2009 movie The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. But it was a fun tidbit if one thinks about it. However, one thing is pretty clear, despite all the problems and conflicts one thing that stands undefeated is Keanu Reeves being a great kisser and an even better friend to work with.
Source: American Film Institute
