Many years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ian Bliss who played Bane in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. He was a lovely guy and shared some fun anecdotes about working on set with Keanu Reeves. Here's an excerpt from that interview.
The Matrix was ground breaking before it gained its cult following. It not only used cutting-edge technology, but introduced intricate layers into the story, questioning what reality is all about and how we control our destiny.
The Wachowski brothers’ scripts used every influence including Kung Fu, Hong Kong martial arts movies, science fiction films, romance, cyberspace and the big elements of classical mythology.
As the cast were constantly preparing to shoot grueling fight sequences, there were many injuries sustained on set. Carrie-Anne Moss hurt her ankle, Hugo Weaving injured his knee and Keanu Reeves got roughed up several times.
Ian Bliss, who plays Bane in the two Matrix sequels, remembers the pain involved with shooting the action scenes.
“The set was built with a thin layer of foam which cushioned the falls and softened the blows, but we still ended up with impressive-looking bruises. I had to train for three weeks for my fight scene with Keanu Reeves.”
On top of the permanent gymnasium at Fox, an area the size of an aircraft hangar was provided for workouts, wirework practice and for rehearsing all the big stunts.
“A lot of it was contact and blocking,” he says. “A few hours a day were spent working on choreographed moves. You train with stunt coordinators and stunt doubles. They teach you the moves as if you are rehearsing a dance.”
“We rehearsed over and over again until muscle memory kicked in and the moves became automatic,” says Bliss.
In The Matrix Revolutions there is a scene where Bane has burnt Neo’s eyes out. Fighting with the star of the movie is always a risky affair. Bliss explains.
“Despite the regular training and knowing what your moves are going to be, you’ve always got that one percent of you going ‘Don’t hurt the star! He may have insurance but you don’t want to stuff up the shoot.’”
In a particular scene, it was Reeves and not Bliss who stuffed up.
“Keanu had a latex cover-up over his eyes to make him look badly wounded. The eyeballs were gone; the sockets had just melted down.”
“He was totally blind. He couldn’t see a thing through the prosthetics and had to be led around.”
“During our fight, Keanu had to knee me in the guts. You can fake that by having your opponent hit you in the thigh. So I’m guiding Keanu with my voice trying to point him in the right direction.”
“We’re holding on to one another and Keanu does this kick aiming for my inner thigh, but his knee slips and I end up copping the blow full-on in the crotch.” Bliss winces.
“Believe me that brought a tear to the eye! I hope it’s the take that was used as it certainly floored me.”
“Once I'd picked myself up off the ground, I thought to myself, ‘You know you’ve made it in Hollywood when you’ve been kneed in the nuts by Keanu Reeves!’”
And who said that filmmaking isn't glamorous!
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