Winona Ryder Said Keanu Reeves Is ‘Very Special’ to Her: ‘I Have So Much Love and Respect for Him’

Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves have been friends for a long time and worked together in films, so they have a special connection both personally and professionally. During a 2018 interview promoting the movie Destination Wedding, Ryder and Reeves shared why they love each other so much.

Winona Ryder knew that Keanu Reeves was perfect for ‘Destination Wedding’

After Ryder signed on for her role in Destination Wedding, she sent the script to Reeves, believing that “he was the perfect person” to be her co-star.

“I knew it couldn’t work unless it was sort of the perfect people and he was the first person I thought of,” she told Today in 2018. “Once I kind of got him in my head, I couldn’t imagine doing it without him and so, thank god” he was available for filming.

Ryder shared how the script was unique, providing “stuff that neither of us had done,” adding it’s “always nice to be doing something new.”

Reeves was thrilled to hear from his pal and frequent co-star. “That’s kinda what you wrote. You were like, ‘I like this script, would you check it out,’” he recalled. “I think I read it that night and then I think I contacted you two days later and was like, ‘let’s go do this.’”

“I was really excited to get a letter and email from Winona and to get this script and it’s a marvelous script and I thought that it was really kind of modern and taking in a new to do this idea of a relationship,” Reeves added.

He said he loved the characters and dialogue but also loved working with Ryder because it allowed her to flex her comedic skills.

Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder have a mutual love and respect for each other

Their off-screen chemistry is so real and, during a 2018 interview with iHollywoodTV, they were asked about their friendship and working together. It was an absolute lovefest, to say the least.

Ryder shared that, even though she’s worked with a lot of talented people over the years, Reeves holds a special place in her heart.

“I’ve been so lucky in my life that I’ve worked with so many great actors but there is something very, very special with Keanu,” she explained. “I have so much love and respect for him and it really genuinely makes going to work and working an absolute pleasure.”

“Even if it’s a thousand degrees and we’re rolling down a hill — like it’s … I can’t imagine doing it with anybody else but him,’ Ryder added.

Reeves was in agreement, sharing that they have a “shorthand” and are always on the same page. “I mean, we like each other personally … and professionally, we have such a short-hand because we have gone up against it and gone through the process many times.”

“We are both kind of cut from the same acting tradition/cloth/ilk so we view rehearsal the same and review what a character is, we look at how we develop a scene together,” he added.

Both actors agreed they’re “analog” and “old school” in that they came up in the entertainment business before the internet, with Reeves adding, “We’re old.” He boiled down their relationship with just three words: “shorthand, respect, and affection.”