Prime Video’s new anthology series Secret Level adapts more than 15 popular games for the small screen, with many of the characters played by an all-star cast. Among them is John Wick actor Keanu Reeves, who appears in the epic Armored Core episode.
Speaking to GamesRadar+ about how they secured the Hollywood legend, creator Tim Miller and executive producer Dave Wilson said it took little convincing thanks to Reeves’ love for their Netflix show Love, Death and Robots.
“We had never worked with him before, although I had met him briefly,” explains Miller. “He’s a big animation fan and came to Blur (Studios) to talk to me about a movie, a completely different movie, and said, ‘What I really want to talk about is love, death and robots. Can you tell me?’ Everything about it? I love animation.’
“I said, ‘Well, let’s do something different. Would you like to be there?’ And he said, “Fuck, yeah.” I said, “Do you have something specific you want to play?” And he basically says, “No, just put me in the role.” So I asked Dave, “If you If you cast Keanu Reeves on the show, what character would he be?” and at first Dave thought I was joking about Keanu Reeves wanting to be on the show.
However, Wilson admits that he remembers the conversation going a little differently. “(Miller) dictates into his phone like that character from Hacks, and so you get these weird messages that don’t make any sense. I got this text: ‘Hey, do we have anything for piano?’ And I’m like, “What?” And then I realized, and then, yeah, I didn’t believe it. To convince him, Miller sent a video of Reeves to the studio, leaving Wilson to worry about who he might play.
“Keanu actually came on, it was pretty late in the show and we all had art on the walls,” Wilson remembers. “So there weren’t that many episodes left to cast, and then I started getting videos of other actors and I was like, ‘Tim, I don’t have any roles left.'”
(Image credit: Prime Video)
The couple also have so many good things to say about Reeves, who Wilson says is the “nicest” person ever. “You hear all the stories about how wonderful Keanu is, but often he’s just a hype machine. And I can tell you without exaggeration, he is the nicest person to work with. I mean, we only shoot for a day or two.” He usually shows up prepared and ready to go. He’s just a fabulous person.
Reeves isn’t the only star in the Secret Level cast either, as Arnold Schwarzenegger also voices a character in the New World episode. Kevin Hart, Gabriel Luna, Ariana Greenblatt, Emily Swallow and Claudia Doumit all also have roles in the anthology series, but Miller admits they couldn’t find a role for everyone.
“There was a British actor who I said we wanted to be on the show and he said, ‘Yes.’ And then I had lunch with him and I told him, “You know, we’re just not going to play a role in this season.” He did a whole thing where he said he was just acting like he was super disappointed, and I was filmed it for Dave: “I got so upset and drove across town because Tim promised me this role.” It was pretty funny. Alright, but we’ll get more next season.
Miller adds: “Just like in any profession or world, there are a lot of people in the film industry who love games, and so if they had the opportunity to be in something interesting, they would like to be.” It wasn’t difficult for me to convince someone of it.
Secret Level will be released on Amazon Prime Video on December 10th, with additional episodes released by December 17th. For more information, check out our guides to the best shows on Amazon Prime Video and our roundup of all the upcoming video game adaptations you need to know.
