 Keanu Reeves as John Wick
A former hitman who returns to the underworld he fought to leave Viggo has always liked John because he was brilliant at his job. They
behind.[6][16][17] On accepting the role of Wick, Reeves explained, "Basil
and Peter Lawson of Thunder Road brought the script to me with the
idea that I would be a part of such a great collaboration. We all agreed
on the potential of the project. I love the role, but you want the whole
story, the whole ensemble to come to life." [18][19] On the character of
John Wick, Reeves stated, "When we first see him, he’s a guy grieving
for his lost wife. But it turns out he has lived lives in two worlds: one in
which he’s a happily married man and one in which he’s an assassin.
He has tried to bury his past, but without his wife, he is lost." Reeves
also compared Wick's story to "[...] a kind of Old Testament revenge
story" adding that, "When someone takes the things he cherishes,
violence erupts and John can’t temper it." [20][21] In the original script, the
character of John Wick was written with"a man in his mid-sixties" to
play the role, given the title character’s fabled reputation, ergo, the
filmmakers had inititally imagined an older actor. However, head of
Thunder Road Pictures Basil Iwanyk decided against this, stating,
"Instead, we decided to look for someone who is not literally older, but
who has a seasoned history in the film world." [22][23] Both Stahelski and
Leitch were adamant that Reeves wouldn't learn any forms of martial
arts to which he'd learnt before; for the role, Reeves spent four months
learning Judo, Japanese ju-jitsu, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu from "some of
the toughest guys" both Stahelski and Leitch have encountered, which
included their "LA SWAT and Navy Seal friends".[24][25][26] due to willingly
wishing to undergo intense training regimens.[27] Of Reeves' training,
Stahelski spoke of developing a new style of close-quarter combat due
to the need and wish of using and utilising practical grappling martial
art forms with guns.[28] The name John Wick is a name Kolstad had
used as a reference to his grandfather, the founder of Wick Building
Systems. Wick stated, "I was tickled by Derek using my name for a
movie, and the hit man character was frosting on the cake." [29] The
character was written with Paul Newman in mind.[30]
 Michael Nyqvist as Viggo Tarasov
The head of the Tarasov family and an enterprising businessman with
questionable roots.[31][32] On taking the role of Viggo, Nyqvist mentioned,
"I found the relationship between John and Viggo to be interesting.
have the kind of love and respect you might see between a father and
son, but it breaks down when John comes for Iosef." [18] Stahelski stated
that the role of Viggo had been decided after a great many meetings
due to the importance and complexity of the character and that Nyqvist
brought both odd and interesting qualities to the character, [19] also
adding that "[Nyqvist's] quirkiness is a good match for Keanu’s
stoicism." The filmmakers were most determined to attempt bypass the
stereotypical Russian mobster characterisation.[19] Iwanyk stated that
Viggo needed to be played by someone who would be "believable as
this ultra-bad guy, but was still very, very charming." adding that, "
[Michael brought the character a kind of humanity." For the role of
Viggo, Nyqvist was given a style of fighting based on the
Russian martial art of Sambo to which he started training
in Stockholm, Sweden at the request of Stahelski and Leitch, as he
stated, "I did this Russian style of jiu-jitsu called Sambo a lot. I did
Brazilian jiu-jitsu and boxing a lot. [...] to get closer to the character. [...]
the guys I worked with, back home in Stockholm, were Russians, so [I]
got closer to them. It was a little bit like [method acting]." [33][28] Of
Viggo's background, Kolstad revealed, "A street brawler raised in the
slums of Kiev, Viggo has worked his way up the underworld food chain.
Now, he is in the process of transitioning to respectability." [19] Director
Stahelski stated of Nyqvist, "[Michael], he is not your stereotypical
Russian bad guy. He is a quirky guy, how he gives his reads."
With David Leitch stating, "We had great performances and input from
Michael Nyqvist who played it straight and he was excellent. He was a
quirky villain. And we took time with the script and found those
humorous moments and made sure we paced them correctly with the
ultra-violence." [34]