Keanu Reeves has revealed his ‘Toy Story 4’ character will have a tragic backstory.
The 54-year-old actor will play "stuntman action figure" Duke Caboom in the highly anticipated animated blockbuster sequel, and he has revealed his toy alter ego will be a "wounded person" needing "catharsis".
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he said: "Every kid has their toy, and Duke let his kid down when he couldn’t do what the commercial said he could. So he’s a wounded person!
"He’s needing to have some, I don’t know, catharsis. Some feeling. I wanted him to have a real sensitivity and a soft heart."
However, Reeves also revealed that the character will have a "a really wide dramatic bandwidth" rather than just focusing on the doom and gloom, and this is what drew the star to the role.
He added: "I also saw him as a character that has a really wide dramatic bandwidth in the sense of being so big – ‘Kaboom! Kapow! Let’s go!’
"But who can also then share his wounds, like, ‘You have a kid? I had a kid. I let him down!’ And he can get quiet. So it was really a lot to play with on the playground."
Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that Sandra Bullock – who co-starred with the actor in ‘Speed’ – was offered the lead role of Neo in ‘The Matrix’, which eventually went to Reeves.
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said: "We went out to so many people I don’t remember. We were getting desperate. We went to Sandy Bullock and said ‘We’ll change Neo to a girl.’
"[Producer] Joel Silver and I worked with Sandy on ‘Demolition Man’ and she was – and continues to be – a very good friend of mine.
"It was pretty simple. We sent her the script to see if she was interested in it. And if she was interested in it we would try to make the change."
Keanu Reeves opens up on tragic Toy Story 4 character
