Keanu Reeves, is that you?
Before he was The One in The Matrix or saving people on a runaway bus in Speed, Reeves was just another struggling actor who got his start in commercials.
In fact, one of John Wick star’s earliest on-screen roles was in a Coca-Cola commercial from the 1980s, which he discussed during an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden on Monday, August 6. “I had to play a cyclist who’s a young kid, my father’s my coach, it’s a big race,” he told Corden and fellow guest Peter Stormare of the ad, noting that a Ukrainian cyclist was the commercial’s villain. “It was like a three-day shoot.”
The Canadian actor called the commercial a “great experience,” and even recalled how he shaved his legs so as to be believable as a professional cyclist.
“You shaved your legs for this commercial?” a surprised Corden asked as the audience applauded. “I gotta tell you, it was all totally worth it.”
The host, 39, then surprised his guest by playing the commercial, which, as seen in the clip above, features a young, clean-shaven Reeves taking part in a bicycle race.
“I’ve got chills,” Corden said through laughter when the ad was over.
For Reeves, 53, seeing the spot brought back even more memories. “I had to drink so many Coca-Colas,” he recalled. “But I had that thing with the director where it’s like, ‘OK, you’re thirsty, you’re dying, you’re on a desert island and you haven’t had anything to drink.’”
According to Reeves, the director then took things into R-rated and even X-rated territory. “It was pretty funny,” he said.
