Keanu Reeves and Clint Eastwood. Two incredible leading men, but in two very different realms. By 2014, Reeves had made himself a master of the modern film world, putting in amazing performances across all genres. Eastwood is a master of the generation before, rising to fame in the 1970s and ‘80s and sticking around as one of the most respected names in cinema. But for one moment, both were being considered for the same part.

Or, more accurately, Keanu Reeves stole Clint Eastwood’s part. Given that they exist in different age groups, look very different, and have very different energies both on and off camera, it’s a confusing fact. It doesn’t feel like there would be any role in the world for which the two actors would be considered simply because of their three-decade-wide age gap. But one of Reeves’ most iconic roles was originally going to be offered to the western legend.

The role was John Wick, the action figure that Reeves has now turned into a major franchise. Given the intensity of the role and the daring action sequences involved, it makes a bit more sense why Eastwood, who made his name in cowboy flicks and war films, would have been brought up as a potential. But the script looked very different when his name was floating around as a possibility.

“One of my best friends is Charlie Ferraro at United Talent Agency, who sent me this script from [screenwriter] Derek Kolstad called Scorn,” John Wick franchise producer Basil Iwanyk said of his first interaction with the script that would become the first movie in the series. But at that stage, the main role was in a whole different age bracket as he said, “The lead was a 75-year-old man, 25 years after being retired.”

Instantly, Eastwood’s name was brought up. “It was the fun of watching Clint Eastwood kick ass,” Iwanyk said of the initial idea to bring the actor in, “I thought, ‘Okay, there’s probably one or two names you could do this with: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford.’”

But whispering in his ear was another friend who also worked as an agent, representing Keanu Reeves. “He said, ‘Do you have any action movies for Keanu Reeves?’” Iwanyk recalled. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Keanu is one of the great action stars of the last 25 years – what happened to him? What’s he been doing?’”

At the time, Reeves had been busy working on directing his own film, Man of Tai Chi. He’d also starred in another action film called 47 Ronin, adding to his lengthy resume of action flicks showing his worth as their leading man. But while Iwanyk was open to the idea of the actor, the issue of age remained.

“We give him the script, we tell him, ‘Clearly, you’re not 75’,” Iwanyk said, but instantly, Reeves wanted to be involved. “We all agreed on the potential of the project,” Reeves said of that initial script as he went all in on gunning to get this part and helping them rework it to suit him.

According to Derek Kolstad, the film’s writer, it was Reeves who played a major hand in rewriting John Wick to be a movie that would suit him and be a character he could carry. He said that the actor “got his talons into [the script] and made it his own” as the team behind it began to lean into his vision, spending “two months at Keanu’s house on the weekends” working on the script until John Wick was his character through and through.

It’s strange to think that such a defining role for Reeves and an important cornerstone of his filmography might not have been his at all if the original plan had been stuck too. Instead, the action figure might have been a 75-year-old Eastwood, making for a very different franchise.