None of us saw it coming: Keanu Reeves popping up in an animated short inspired by Armored Core. And let’s be honest, Secret Level’s executive producer was just as taken aback as the rest of us.
When Reeves made an appearance in that initial trailer from Secret Level, it sent waves of surprise through the community. He’s a pretty massive name in Hollywood—think about it, while he’s part of the Cyberpunk 2077 universe, who would’ve guessed he’d pop up in an Armored Core short? Even more amusing is the reaction of the show’s executive producer, Dave Wilson. When initially asked if there was room in the project for Reeves, Wilson thought it was a mere gag. He opened up about this during a chat with GamesRadar, where he was joined by Tim Miller, the man behind Deadpool and the creator of this project. They dove into what it felt like having Reeves become a part of the production.
"We actually hadn’t collaborated with him before, though I’d bumped into him once," Miller said. "He’s really into animation and dropped by Blur Studios to chat about a totally different film. But then he started raving about Love, Death and Robots, saying, ‘Can you fill me in? I’m a huge fan of animation.’"
I replied, ‘Well, we’re working on something else right now. Interested in joining?’ and he was immediately on board, saying, ‘F**k yeah.’ I asked whether he had a particular role in mind, and he was like, ‘Nah, just throw me in there.’ So, I turned to Dave and said, ‘If we were to cast Keanu Reeves in the show, who would he play?’ Initially, Dave couldn’t believe it, thinking I was joking about having Reeves in the show."
Wilson recalled the situation a bit differently, initially confused because Miller tends to use voice-to-text software, which led to an amusing moment when he received a message asking, “Do we have anything for piano?” Wilson was puzzled until he connected the dots and realized it was about Keanu. "Keanu actually joined quite late in the game, and we had the art plastered all over the walls by then. We didn’t have many roles left to fill, and I was receiving videos from other actors that I just couldn’t accommodate," Wilson added.
Luckily, there was a significant role that suited Reeves perfectly, and we won’t have to wait much longer to see how he fits in. The show is set to kick off with its first wave of episodes next week, premiering on Prime Video come December 10th.
