Hideo Kojima Talks About Keanu Reeves And Whether He Is In DEATH STRANDING Or Not

Earlier this month, fans were going crazy over the fact that Keanu Reeves had visited Hideo Kojima at the Kojima Productions studio; leading them to believe that Reeves was also going to play a character in the highly anticipated Death Stranding.

The rumors gained a lot of traction due to two things: the fact that Keanu Reeves is already playing a role in CD Projekt RED's Cyberpunk 2077, and that Kojima Productions' Death Stranding already features a cast of Hollywood A-list actors.

It also helped the fact that Hideo Kojima himself had said that at one point Keanu Reeves was actually considered for a role in Death Stranding — although this was revealed back in July; way before Keanu Reeves visited the Kojima Productions studio.

In a recent interview with GameSpot, Hideo Kojima was asked whether Keanu Reeves is, indeed, playing a role in Death Stranding and, while his answer may sound ambiguous, it seems that this will not be the case at all; to the disappointment of many.

"Keanu is a great guy. I have a close friend, Nicolas Refn, he introduced me to Mads and I made an offer to Mads to be in the game. I went to Denmark and talked to Nicolas again before I gave the offer to Mads, and I said I met Mads a couple of times but I really wanted to reconfirm with Nicolas that I really should work with Mads. Nicolas said, "I made Mads grow. He's great, but the best guy is Keanu," and he was doing Neon Demon at that time. So he was trying to persuade me to use Keanu, and I thought maybe I will change from Mads to Keanu," revealed Kojima.

"We were having this dinner, and there was this chef, and I called the chef and told him that I'm thinking of using Mads, and asked what he thought. Even the chef said maybe Keanu is better, even though he liked Mads a lot. But I did write the character for Mads, imagining him, so I am very happy that I offered it to Mads in the end."

It does really seem that Keanu Reeves was a strong contender to play a role in Kojima Productions' Death Stranding, but eventually the role ended up going to Mads Mikkelsen — who, to be fair, was Kojima's first choice any way; keeping his vision even more intact.

Kojima then reiterates that "Keanu is a great guy, and in the future it would be great if we could work together. It could be a game, or maybe a movie or TV I might work on, so maybe next time. But I want to say Mads is really great. When I met Keanu, I was shocked that he was so polite; a real good guy. Were are only one year apart in age, so the appreciation towards a lot of things are similar, I think. So in the future, I would like to offer something to Keanu."

While Hideo Kojima could be 100% telling the truth, it is also possible that Keanu Reeves may end up playing a small role in the game. Reeves visiting the studio doesn't mean much and, after all the talk about them considering him to play a role in the game, it is very likely that Kojima simply wanted to meet the man; after all, who wouldn't?




 

Sam Bridges must brave a world utterly transformed by the Death Stranding. Carrying the stranded remnants of the future in his hands, Sam embarks on a journey to reunite the shattered world one step at a time. What is the mystery of the Death Stranding? What will Sam discover on the road ahead? A genre defining gameplay experience holds these answers and more.