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In an interview for the Blu-ray release of Bram Stroker’s Dracula, Francis Ford Coppola did an interview with Entertainment Weekly. When asked if he felt responsible for the criticism that Keanu received for his performance, Mr. Coppola said:
We knew that it was tough for him to affect an English accent. He tried so hard. That was the problem, actually — he wanted to do it perfectly and in trying to do it perfectly it came off as stilted. I tried to get him to just relax with it and not do it so fastidiously. So maybe I wasn’t as critical of him, but that’s because I like him personally so much. To this day he’s a prince in my eyes.
The interviewer said he heard Keanu arrived on set burnt out from his other work and Mr. Coppola said:
Perhaps. And I know the critics gave him trouble about the accent. But of all the young people I’ve met in the film industry he’s so endearing and sincere, and a good person, and a generous person, and I’m glad I came to know that. He’s the nicest person you’ll ever want to meet.