hile on location filming the Matrix sequels in Sydney, Australia,
Keanu Reeves was sent a script for another Warner Brothers project about a troubled occult expert who fights demons, both literal and internal. It wasn't until after he became fascinated with the character and the story that Reeves learned it was based on the Vertigo comic book Hellblazer, and that the John Constantine in the books is blond and British (in fact, creator Alan Moore has stated that he based the character on Sting). It hasn't been easy for the actor to overcome the initial skepticism of fans, but he's devoted himself to the task of doing justice to one of the most complex characters ever to appear in the pages of a comic book.
Helping him along the way has been director and collaborator Francis Lawrence. As a music-video director, Lawrence has worked with acts such as Will Smith, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson and Aerosmith, but Constantine is his first feature film. Lawrence worked with Reeves, the screenwriters and producer Akiva Goldsman to find the right tone
for the film, one that captured the spirit of the character rather than a literal translation from the comic book.
Also starring in the film is Rachel Weisz, best known for her roles as Egyptologist Evelyn Carnahan in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. Weisz plays a dual role in Constantine, as detective
Angela Dodson and her twin sister Isabel, whose mysterious suicide leads Angela to seek out a reluctant Constantine for help. Together, they uncover a secret plan that could culminate in the creation of a literal hell on earth.
Reeves, Lawrence and Weisz recently spoke with Science Fiction Weekly about the process of bringing Constantine to life. The film opens in theaters Feb. 18.
There have been some controversial changes made to the characters and setting of the Hellblazer comic book for this film. How did you feel about those changes?
Reeves: I wasn't familiar with the character before I read the script. When the script came to me, that aspect of the character, being based in London and being English, had changed already. So I wasn't aware of that. When I read the script and familiarized myself with the work, I saw that what was important was really the essence of Constantine. And we worked really hard to keep that aspect of it because it's really what it's all about, that kind of hard-edged, hard-boiled, world-weary, cynical, fatalistic, nihilistic, self-interested [guy], with a heart. And I think we did. I mean, I hope so. I hope that fans of the comic don't feel that we sabotaged something that is so well-loved.
Lawrence: Those hard-boiled fans are pissed and they always will be. He was made an American in the script long before I came onboard. And when I came on it was Keanu and it's like "OK, we're not going to give him an English accent just so he can have an English accent to please fans. We're not going to make him blond just to please fans." We've got to do what's best
for the movie. And that's why for me what was really important was just keeping the heart of who Constantine is. Because if you have an English guy who's blond and wears and olive-colored trench coat, but he doesn't have the heart of who he is, I mean, even the comic-book fans will think he's a piece of s--t.
Keanu, you usually do a lot of preparation and research for your roles. What was the process for this one?
Reeves: The process for me, it's writing things down, thoughts. I've spent years working on a role in terms of [preparation]. I wasn't carrying around The Path of the Peaceful Warrior in that sense. I think the film speaks for itself in a way, and that's really what I was working on. If I had anything that was like that, it was a script called Constantine
and the journey that character takes is kind of learning about this kind of curse that was given to him as a kid—a gift, another character says—but Constantine doesn't see it quite like that. And I think part of the journey is Constantine understanding his life and the circumstances. And he comes to a kind of ambivalent peace of sorts. So really, in a way, it was the script.
This film has elements of established religious tradition. How much of that do you believe and how much do you see as pure fiction?
Reeves: I think of it as this sort of secular religiosity. The piece itself is using icons in a platform in a kind of Catholic heaven and hell, god and the devil, human souls, fighting for us, but I find that in the piece itself, Constantine himself, because of the fact that he knows, he doesn't [have faith]. And I was hoping that these concepts could become a platform that are humanistic, that this kind of journey of this particular hero that is hopefully relatable to, even though they're such fantastical characters in situations, that it's still a man trying to figure it out.
In the film, Constantine is seeking repentance. Do you think it's something he can achieve?
Reeves: Repentance. I think the aspect of repentance is born and expressed in his act, I don't want to give it away, but his final act, what he asks from—as he calls Lucifer—Lou, that's his repentance, and sacrifice. And what goes on there, I think that's what gives him the shot at going upstairs. But there's also the Constantinian twist of, did he make the sacrifice so he could go to heaven, or does he really mean it? But he does. He does. I think ultimately he does, otherwise the man upstairs knows. He's just like Santa Claus. If you're naughty or nice, he knows.
When did you finally feel you knew this character? Was it when you got into the costume on the set or before?
Reeves: I really enjoyed the character, but in terms of embodying it, I worked with the costumer, and she had a rack of clothes and choices and shoes and stuff and I was just trying things on. There was a concept for the piece, and it's just what clothes fit. It's like trying on a hat, [you say], "It's this one." And I found that moment. I remember putting on the jacket and the shoes and I felt a certain way. And I was like, "Yeah, this is the Constantine." So then going to rehearsals, you wear your wardrobe. And eventually I'd find that not only how they'd feel, but it seems like how they appear, that they seemed kind of connected, natural. It seems like as opposed to the clothes wearing the man, the man's wearing the clothing. When that happens, it's really, it's great.
So I kinda knew his core, but in terms of embodying the character, I worked on [it], I lowered my register a little bit and working on the way he spoke. I was guided by Francis Lawrence, the director, in terms of wanting that hard-boiled, hard-edged [feel], and by the comic itself, that kind of noir aspect. And that has certain traditions in it that I wanted to utilize, especially with the scenes with that kind of deadpan humor. His one-liners are killers. That kind of stuff.
But when did I know? When was it? Yeah, it kind of happened just a couple of days before we shot. And the exorcism was the first scene and that helped a lot too. For me, when I walked from the window and got on the bed I was like, "How do I get on this bed?" And when Constantine just kind stands up and walks over her like he's trying to walk over a puddle I was like, "OK,
I've got it. I got it."
You worked for nine months on this character after you got the script. What was your impact on John Constantine?
Reeves: My impact in terms of what it was and what it became, one of the expressions in the end of the film, he's like, "I guess there's a plan for all of us. I had to die twice just to figure that out. But the book says he works in mysterious ways. Some people like it, some people don't," is mine. That's mine. And that to me was the ground for where Constantine ends up. And there's still that ambivalence, it's still like, some people like it and some people don't, but there's an acknowledgement and in that acknowledgement I feel like you're watching a character who's dealing with something that happened to him that he didn't understand. He was given this curse, or this gift, to be able to see the world beyond the world. And in despair as a young man overwhelmed he takes his own life and he goes to hell. He comes back from hell and he has no idea why. And I think that search of his, trying to kind of orient, like "Hey, fella, I'm doing all this work, what are you doing to me?" And with the people. So that was how I felt. So that was my impact.
Can you talk a little about your chemistry with Rachel? You have some almost-kissing scenes, but there's no real romance.
Reeves: It's one of those things that you can see in a couple, that it can be there, and yet it can't be there, because it's not the time or place. So there's a bit of a conceit to it, but I think it's part of the enjoyment of the piece. I hope. ... Hopefully it's enjoyable and it's something that I think is in the relationship. There is something with what they're going through. But yeah, so I think it's there. Yeah. They can't kiss, they wanna kiss, but they can't kiss, so they kinda don't kiss, but they wanna kiss. And at the end of the film they do say that they have an interest in seeing each other. So it's romantic in that sense.
How do you feel about the possibility of this becoming another franchise. Does that worry you?
Reeves: My contract didn't have a second film in it, but myself and some of the producers and Francis Lawrence, the director, and I, certainly would, because we fell in love with the guy. I fell in love with the guy. I had one of the best times I've ever had working on a film working on this particular project. So we would talk about what could we do. What happens to
Constantine? He's a heroin addict in Morocco and he's got a spell and he's killing people, and he's trying not to kill people so he's knocking himself out. And Akiva Goldsman was like, "No, he wants to stop Revelations." So we do these kinds of things and ultimately it is up to the audience, because that would mean that the studio would have the resources to go forward with it.
But I would love to play Constantine again as long as I worked with the same people. I mean definitely Francis Lawrence and Akiva Goldsman, and everyone involved in this project, because I could not imagine doing this without everyone involved. But I loved playing the guy. Trilogy? Why stop there? Like, you know, I could have Son of Constantine. And I'll play him too. CGI. But it's a character, just how it exists in the graphic novel. So I would love to play him again. Who knows? I mean [it opens] Feb. 18, probably by the 30th we'll know. But also, I'm sure Francis Lawrence after this film, because he did such a remarkable job, we're not going to be able to hire that guy. He's gone.
Francis, this is your first feature film, how is it different from directing music videos?
Lawrence: What's interesting is whenever I had the opportunity to tell the story within my music videos, I would. Also, I was lucky enough at certain times to work with some actors. I did a video for Warren Beatty's Bulworth a long time ago, so I got to work with Warren and Halle [Berry] and a bunch of different people from that film. So I was sort of training myself in little ways of doing these three-and-a-half-minute shorts. And I would also, by the way, work with my performers as if they were actors and turn their sort of performances into performances instead of just, "OK, we're rolling. Sing." So I thought I was already a little bit prepared to work with actors and it was a good process. I got to work with Keanu for nine months or a year on the story and on the character before we [shot].
What was your working relationship with Keanu like? Did he have to approve you as director?
Lawrence: Yeah, he had to approve me. And then once he did, we worked together with Akiva Goldsman who did the last draft and is one of the producers on the film. The three of us just really hammered away at that story and the script and the characters, so even before rehearsals Keanu and I kind of had this real bed of language we had about this character.
How did he want to change the character from how he was written in the original script?
Lawrence: Like I said, the last year Keanu and Akiva and I worked on the script together. And what we really brought to the movie was an attitude that wasn't there. And what I tried to do was really bring the attitude back from the comic. I don't think that attitude was there earlier. So Keanu and I and Akiva actually really saw eye to eye on this. ... He has a classic—I mean he's an antihero—but he has the classic hero journey. He has the change.
Did Keanu ever want to make the character more likable by adding humor?
Lawrence: No, I think what's interesting with a character like this, and I think we all wanted to do this. The best antiheroes you love. They're those guys that you love, and that's part of Constantine, is that because of how he feels about the world and because the world is a place he detests, he has this way of coping. It's like his defense mechanism. It's becoming this guy that's actually kind of fun an charismatic to be around sometimes.
The scenes at the beginning of the film have a more realistic style, like The Exorcist or The Omen, was that your intention?
Lawrence: Oh, yeah. Definitely. My whole attempt at this movie was to try and ground it in reality. I didn't want to make—even though it's a comic-book adaptation—I didn't want to make a comic-book movie. ... I was actually aiming for sort of the weird mix. The movie works on a horror level sometimes, supernatural thriller sometimes, and also is kind of infused with this sort of a noir, hard-boiled detective story as well.
Rachel, did Francis surprise you as a first-time feature director?
Weisz: Well we knew from his music videos that he was an incredible stylist, a visual stylist, that was no question. It was like, "I liked him when I met him, is he going to be able to work with actors?" And the answer is yes. He's a real natural. ... Some directors don't actually like actors, most of them. It's a bizarre thing. They're not that interested, they just
want to see the big picture. But he really, really worked with the actors, and really dealt with everybody's different needs, and I think he really still sustained a tone for this movie. It's so tone-based, and he really kept to tone, and narrative nuance and characters. He's very interested in characters. So, they don't always cross over, but I would say I think he's the real thing.
What attracted you to this project?
Weisz: I read the script, and at the time ... I was actually wanting to do a comedy. Really. I said to my agent I really wanted to read comedy and I was reading comedy and I read this script and it was so not on the plan, my plan of life. And there was something about it, I couldn't get it [out of my head]. And I'm not familiar with the comic book. I'm just not into that. I know it's a huge cult, after I got on board, but I didn't know anything about it. There was just something about the mythology and the world that it was set in. And then this very real character, this complex, kind of interesting, haunted woman at the center of it, and I just couldn't get it out of my mind. And then I met Francis and I was really impressed. And I saw his music videos, many of which I had seen already without realizing it was him, and I thought, "Wow, this is too interesting not to [do]." Even though it's not [comedy]. It has some comedy in it, but not much for my character.
You have a harrowing bathtub scene in this. What was that like to film?
Weisz: It was scary. ... We shot it for a couple of days, I think. After 30 seconds underwater, it's frightening, even if you trust the person,
which I do trust Keanu.
You previously worked with Keanu in Chain Reaction, how was it to work with him again now that you're older and wiser?
Weisz: Yeah. That was it. We're a little older, a little wiser and yeah, it was nice. We didn't have to go through the getting to know you phase of things. ... I didn't think he had changed very much at all post-Matrix, all that success could have gone to someone's head. But he's pretty down to earth. ... He's totally, totally the same guy. He's still a very mysterious, enigmatic guy, but he's the same one. ... He doesn't try and be mysterious. It isn't an act, like, "I'm being mysterious." There's just some quality about him. That's probably what makes him this gigantic star.
What do you think of the serious religious themes in the film? Do you think it's something that should be taken seriously or is it just fantasy?
Weisz: I think it's definitely entertainment, but within the entertainment is housed some pretty serious topics about morality and free will and predestination and what's God's plan and how we can do good and the capacity as human beings that we have to do good. So I think it's definitely entertainment. It's a thriller. It's fantasy. It's supernatural. It's all those things. But I think there's food for thought, and I think it will make people debate and talk about [the issues]. There's a lot of ways to interpret it. I personally think it's very smart."
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