To another award show that happened this weekend and a much less controversial acceptance speech. Keanu Reeves received the inaugural Lance Reddick Legacy Award at the Saturn Awards last night. The award is not only in recognition of a performer’s talent but also their character. Keanu and Lance worked together on four films over eight years. He had a front row seat to the kind of person Lance was so to be given an award in that spirit, it was obviously an emotional moment.
To the surprise of no one, Keanu’s acceptance speech was all about Lance. I’m including two videos below – the first is better quality but his remarks get cut off after just over a minute so the second one includes the rest of his speech.
Keanu Reeves accepted the first-ever Lance Reddick Legacy Award at the 2024 Saturn Awards.pic.twitter.com/hFJ63oNtbh
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) February 5, 2024
Here’s #keanureeves’ speech after winning the inaugural @lancereddick Legacy Award at the #SaturnAwards pic.twitter.com/T4SAvavZPv
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) February 5, 2024
At the event Keanu also spoke to PEOPLE about his favourite memories of Lance. According Keanu, Lance is the reason people love John Wick:
"But also, he had such a grace, and he was funny. I mean, humor-wise. I don't know. I think favorite memory... it's the scenes that I had with him and the relationship that he and John Wick had, Charon. I once told him... Well, actually I wrote him a letter and I said, 'people love John Wick because Charon loves John Wick.’ Because that character loved John Wick, that made John Wick okay. And so when I got to act with him, we had such an affection."
That’s also not a surprise – that Keanu Reeves doesn’t send emails or text messages, he writes letter. He writes letters to co-stars to share his thoughts about their characters and the value of their characters. It’s another example of his sweetness, and why he is the best in an industry that’s full of frauds and slicksters.