'Atomic Blonde' Star Charlize Theron on Training With Keanu Reeves — and Smack-Talking Him
Especially in its centerpiece stairwell battle, this Friday’s Atomic Blonde sets a new high watermark for American action cinema. That’s hardly unexpected, given that the Cold War-set spy film stars Charlize Theron (a.k.a. Mad Max: Fury Road’s formidable Imperator Furiosa) and was helmed by David Leitch, who previously co-directed the Keanu Reeves-led John Wick. When we spoke with Leitch earlier this week, he revealed that, while there are no current plans for a John Wick/Atomic Blonde crossover, he would be up for getting those films’ headliners together for a joint future project. And in Yahoo Movies‘ interview with Theron (watch the clip above), she revealed that to get in fighting shape, she trained with none other than Reeves himself.
Theron confesses that working out with the Matrix star was “in the fantasy portion of my brain,” and said fantasy became a reality for five to six weeks in a hanger down by the airport (!), while she was prepping for Atomic Blonde and Reeves was gearing up for John Wick: Chapter 2. Of course, the two A-listers both were already well-acquainted before this run-in, as they played husband and wife in 1997’s The Devil’s Advocate. And though they were working in different fighting styles — and thus mostly just shared chats with each other during breaks — they did engage in some playful smack-talk.
While our Charlize/Keanu action-movie dreams have yet to become a reality, you can hear the actress discuss her desire to bodyslam John Wick above. Atomic Blonde debuts in theaters Friday.
Watch: David Leitch Breaks Down Atomic Blonde‘s Craziest Car Chase:
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