King Lear. Jean Valjean. Eva Perón. These are some of the roles that can define an actor's career, but there's only one that can define an actor's life: Shadow the Hedgehog. In the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3, that role is being filled by none other than John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves, and Paramount has put out a featurette about how he gets himself ready to fill those rocket-skates.
"For 50 years, Shadow's been in a state of suspended animation," intones Reeves, solemnly, "he's coming out of it seeking revenge."
Jim Carrey—who plays Dr Robotnik—reckons Reeves is the perfect man for the role. "Shadow's got this brooding kind of darkness that Keanu has mastered so brilliantly," he says, of a character who is the evil twin of Sonic the Hedgehog with a gun.
It sounds like Reeves almost went method to get himself into the mindspace of gaming's most Byronic hedgehog. It was an "internal journey," says the actor, "to get to the anger and the emotion. It was intense."
I have to say, we see a few snippets of Reeves' performance in the video, and he sure sounds like Keanu Reeves. You could tell me these were clips left on CD Projekt Red's floor from his stint as Johnny Silverhand and I'd absolutely believe it. If Reeves had to go on a voyage to the centre of the self, or climb to the top of a mountain to consult the sages in order to properly inhabit the persona of Evil Sonic, I dunno that I could tell. I say this as a Keanu-liker, and someone who thinks he gets unfairly dinged for his acting.
You can tell he's actually a good actor because he's able to say "Sonic 3 and playing Shadow, it's really on another level" entirely without smirking. And look, I understand: these actors are promoting a movie. They're not gonna come out and say they're only there because they got offered an enormous paycheque—I, too, would have voiced Shadow the Hedgehog if Sega offered me more money than god has—but it is slightly surreal to watch people like Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves sit down and talk up the dramatic bona fides of the Sonic movie.
Anyway, it sounds like Reeves really got into it, so look out for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 to hit cinemas this December 20, where it will make 400 trillion dollars.
