Danette Chavez interviewed Keanu Reeves and Matthew Ross for the A.V. Club. She did not ask the same old questions and as a result, got some noteworthy answers from Keanu.
When asked how filming intimate scenes compare with fight choreography, Keanu said the following.
They’re both very physical and intimate, but the intimacy of violence is obviously different from the intimacy of opening your heart. There’s greater tenderness in a lovemaking scene, but it’s almost riskier. Honestly, those were the scenes in Siberia that felt the most dangerous and important for me, as an actor and a performer. I think I can speak for Ana as well, that going into the scenes of intimacy, just as they yell “action!”—it feels like you’re coming down from the heights, like you’re on a high wire. You’re left very vulnerable. I don’t know what that is sometimes, where there’s a danger in connection, you know? Making oneself vulnerable… I don’t know. There’s that, “Oh, my gosh.” [Laughs.] But it’s thrilling to perform.
When asked if anything he learned for his physical roles helped him in romantic roles, Keanu said the following.
It’s the relationship with the camera. Dancers can speak about this as well—or anybody can speak about it, I guess. But in terms of the focus of the discipline, you know? You’re just very aware of where your body is in these spaces. And there are all these little movements, so you learn to be mindful of where the camera is, and whether it is capturing that moment.
When asked what he hopes audiences take from the film, Keanu said the following.
Just that a connection to someone else is precious, and one of the best feelings and opportunities available to us—that life and love are fucking precious. Yeah.