Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter on Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

He’s been a leading man ever since 1986’s River’s Edge.

But Keanu Reeves has revealed it was the 1989 cult classic Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure that really changed his life. 

‘I had been recognized for some things before,’ the 56-year-old John Wick star to People on Thursday. “But [after Bill & Ted] people were calling out to me, “Yo, dude. Be excellent. Party on!”‘ 

And the fan excitement is ratcheted even higher when both of the film’s leads are spotted together in public, according to co-star Alex Winter.

‘People will flip out and chase us down the street playing air guitar,’ said the 55-year-old.

‘The Bill and Ted notoriety comes coupled with so much joy from people when they recognize you. They’re always happy.’ 

Bill & Ted Face the Music, the third installment of the time traveling comedy series, in which Reeves and Winter play slackers with musical ambitions, is due on demand and in theaters on August 28. 

And while Reeves has certainly had a long and storied career spanning more than three decades, there is one role he wish he landed: Wolverine.

Reeves spoke with Radio Andy on Sirius XM with his Bill & Ted Face the Music co-star Winter, when he was asked about any role he missed out on.

‘I always wanted to play Wolverine,’ Reeves said of the iconic role that was played in the X-Men movies by Hugh Jackman.

Reeves’ co-star Winter joked, ‘It’s not too late. It’s not too late for Keanu to play Wolverine. I’m just going to leave that there.’

Reeves added with a laugh, ‘It is too late,’ though he added, ‘I’m good with it now.’

Andy Cohen asked if it was ‘real’ that he wanted to play Wolverine in the past, Reeves said, ‘Oh yeah. Frank Miller’s Wolverine? For sure.’

While the Wolverine character was created by Roy Thomas, Len Wein and John Romita Sr., Frank Miller teamed with Chris Claremont in the 1980s which revitalized the comic book character.

With just a few movie acting credits to his name, Hugh Jackman was cast as 2000’s Wolverine, which was a huge hit and helped legitimize comic book movies as box office blockbusters. 

Jackman played Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men, 2003’s X2: X-Men United, 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 2011’s X-Men: First Class, 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse and 2017’s Logan.Ree

Reeves is returning to one of his most iconic roles, Neo in The Matrix, with the upcoming film The Matrix 4.

The actor had been filming the sequel in San Francisco in March, but was shut down for months due to COVID-19.

Reeves had confirmed last week that filming has since resumed in Berlin, with Warner Bros. issuing an April 1, 2022 release date for the sequel. 

Reeves’ new film Bill and Ted Face the Music will be released on August 28, finally reuniting him with co-star Alex Winter.

Reeves and Winter starred as the title characters in 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and the 1991 sequel Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.  

The actor is also slated to star in two more John Wick movies as well.