'John Wick: Chapter 4' and the inexorable rise of the aging action star
John Wick may appear to be indestructible, a ruthless assassin who takes a licking and keeps on killing. But for Keanu Reeves, playing him is no picnic.
Speaking to The Times in 2014, as the first installment in the "John Wick" action franchise was about to hit theaters, Reeves, then 51 years old, said portraying a character who is subjected to relentless physical punishment — punched, stabbed, kicked, shot, thrown down stairs, you name it — had taken a toll on his body.
"Being older, there were moments when it was really tough," Reeves said. To recuperate from the rigors of shooting the film's elaborate stunts and fight scenes, he would regularly plunge himself into frigid ice baths. "I'd get home from a day of filming, get the water to 37 degrees and lie in it up
