Keanu Reeves went on an intense ‘internal journey’ to inhabit the role of the evil Sonic the Hedgehog With a Gun

On November 28, 2024By Littum

King Lear. Jean Valjean. Eva Peron. These are some of the roles that can define an actor’s career, but there is only one that can define an actor’s life: Shadow the Hedgehog. In the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3, that role will be filled by none other than John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves and Paramount have released a featurette about how he gets ready to load those rocket skates.

“For 50 years, Shadow has been in a state of suspended animation,” Reeves says solemnly, “he comes out of it to seek revenge.”

Jim Carrey – who plays Dr. Robotnik – thinks Reeves is the perfect man for the role. “Shadow has this brooding kind of darkness that Keanu has mastered so brilliantly,” he says of a character who is the gun-wielding evil twin of Sonic the Hedgehog.

It sounds like Reeves almost went method to get himself in mindspace of gaming’s most Byronic hedgehogs. It was an “inner journey,” says the actor, “to get to the anger and the emotions. It was intense.”

I have to say, we see a few snippets of Reeves’ performance in the video, and he it sounds like Keanu Reeves. You could tell me it was clips left on CD Projekt Red’s floor from his stint as Johnny Silverhand, and I’d absolutely believe it. If Reeves had to take a journey to the center of the self, or climb to the top of a mountain to consult the sages in order to inhabit Evil Sonic’s persona, I don’t know what I could tell. I say this as a Keanu liker, and someone who thinks he gets unfairly bashed 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” without ever smiling. And look, I get it: these actors are promoting a movie. They don’t want to come out and say they’re only there because they were offered a huge paycheck – I would have voiced Shadow the Hedgehog too if Sega offered me more money than God has – but it’s a bit surreal to watch the likes of Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves sit down and talk about the Sonic movie’s dramatic bona fides.

Anyway, it sounds like Reeves is really into it, so keep an eye out for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in theaters on December 20th, where it will make $400 trillion.