Joe Rogan Experience #1995 - Chad Stahelski

Chad Stahelski joins Joe Rogan to trace his path from stunt double on The Matrix to directing the John Wick franchise, a project studios initially passed on and that was made independently. He breaks down the craft behind the films: dance-based fight choreography, 'plug guns,' CGI blood, real Dragon's Breath rounds, and Belgian Malinois trained to bite green-screen pads as play. The two geek out over muscle cars, classic silent-film stuntmen like Buster Keaton, and favorite films. The back half turns to a long conversation about AI's threat to writers, actors and artists, simulation theory, smartphones and social media. Stahelski closes by previewing upcoming projects: a Highlander remake, a Ghost of Tsushima film, and Rainbow Six.

• Stahelski spent eight and a half years with the Wachowskis after auditioning for and doubling Keanu Reeves on The Matrix, his entry into film.
  00:06:43
• John Wick began as a grounded script called 'Scorn' where the lead was 65 and only two people died; the name honors writer Derek Kolstad's grandfather.
  00:07:16
• Stahelski and Dave Leitch won the directing job by pitching a Greek-mythology, Tolkien-style world layered over a 24-hour weekend.
  00:08:16
• Four or five studios passed on John Wick, so it was made independently; the first friends-and-family screening was met with dead silence.
  00:28:28
• Joe Rogan personally texted Stahelski to put a '71 Barracuda muscle car in John Wick 4, and he did it.
  00:21:14
• The film's dog attacks use Belgian Malinois trained to bite green-screen pads as fun play, with parachute rip-cords to release them on 'cut.'
  00:54:17
• Most John Wick blood and muzzle flashes are composited CGI; the guns are 'plug guns' that cycle the action but can't fire a live round.
  00:39:19
• Stahelski's upcoming slate includes a Highlander remake, a Ghost of Tsushima film with Sony, and Rainbow Six.
  02:02:41

• John Wick has racked up more on-screen kills than Michael Myers, Jason and Rambo; Keanu reportedly speaks only ~308 words in the fourth film.
  00:01:07
• Keanu Reeves invented the now-competitive magazine-reload flip himself during the second film.
  00:08:47
• The Red Circle bar sequence was shot in under four days while Keanu had a 103-degree fever.
  00:40:52
• Halle Berry trained roughly eight and a half months and raised her two on-screen Belgian Malinois from scratch for John Wick 4.
  00:57:25
• Stunt performer Dave Camarillo did over 100 dog hits and got a t-shirt reading '109 dog hits.'
  00:59:29
• Stahelski cites Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd as influences and notes Keaton reportedly broke his neck performing a real stunt.
  01:13:30
• The flaming shotgun blasts in the films use real phosphorus 'Dragon's Breath' rounds; the spinning auto-shotgun is a real Genesis shotgun.
  01:22:18
• John Wick 4 was almost titled 'Hagakure,' but the term's WWII militaristic-Japan associations led them to drop it.
  01:08:15
• The 'Baba Yaga' boogeyman backstory came from filmmakers digging through Russian fairy tales for a cool-sounding name.
  00:18:08

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