WATCH: Keanu Reeves Learns How to Perform Stunts While Riding a Horse for John Wick 3
Keanu Reeves added yet another skill to his repertoire for his latest movie.
On top of the other technical stunts the 54-year-old actor had to do in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, a PEOPLE exclusive behind-the-scenes clip reveals the extensive training Reeves underwent to learn how to do tricks while riding a horse.
The sequence involved Reeves’ titular assassin using a horse to battle and escape some bad guys, which led to the actor having to learn how to look like a pro.
“There’s a lot more action. More sequences, different kinds of action,” Reeves, 54, says in the clip. “Halle [Berry] had the dogs and I had the horse training.”
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But, as director Chad Stahelski says, “Riding a horse was too easy for Keanu Reeves, so we had him do trick riding.”
Enter horse trainer Tad Griffith, who took Reeves through all his complicated moves on horseback.
“When he was trick riding the horses, he was able to hang on the side and recover,” Griffith says in the clip. “He had to be comfortable at high rates of speed. He had to be fast going from one move into the other.”
Berry previously revealed she sustained several injuries while training for John Wick 3 — not that she cared.
“I broke three ribs when I was rehearsing for John Wick,” she told Extra. “It’s like a badge of honor for me, we don’t know how it happened… I worked for a little while with broken ribs until I could no longer do it.”
In order to prepare the role of Sofia, an old acquaintance of Reeves‘ titular assassin, Berry spent months training and getting in shape.
“[It’s] hours and hours of stunt training, it’s gun training, it’s dog training, then it’s just strength training on top of that with my trainer, and it’s watching my diet,” she explained.’
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is available for Digital purchase on Aug. 23 and on Blu-ray/DVD Sept. 10.
