Back in June, it was announced that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Mulan star Donnie Yen was joining the John Wick: Chapter 4 cast. Just a few weeks later, filming on the next installment in the Keanu Reeves-led action franchise kicked off, and it’s still going on as we’re winding down October. That means there’s been a lot of long days for Yen in front of the camera, and he looked like could use a nap after the most recent one.
Donnie Yen has periodically gone on Instagram over the last several months to update people on his life is going in the midst of shooting John Wick: Chapter 4. In the below post, we see Yen kicking back after finishing his work for the day, and the placement of the movie’s title on his shoe is a nice touch.
This isn’t the first time Donnie Yen has shared how tiring his time on John Wick: Chapter 4 has been, with a post back in early August touching on how difficult night shoots can be. That being said, overall it sounds like Yen’s experience on Chapter 4 has been positive, with the actor having said at the end of August that he was “having the best time working” with Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski. Yen has also been fairly productive during his free time during the production, like when he taste tested some John Wick and Ip Man-themed burgers.
Donnie Yen was the second new actor to be announced for John Wick: Chapter 4, following pop singer Rina Sawayama, who’s making her film debut on this project. While we don’t know the name of Yen’s John Wick 4 character yet, we do know he will be an old friend of Keanu Reeves’ character who “shares his same history and many of the same enemies.” Considering how chaotic John’s life is, it never hurts to have more allies as he tries to stay alive.
Other new cast members who have come aboard for John Wick: Chapter 4 include Shamier Anderson, Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada (who had once been rumored to star in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum), Scott Adkins and Clancy Brown. The lineup of familiar faces joining Keanu Reeves includes Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, Ian McShane’s Winston and Lance Reddick’s Charon. While specific plot details for Chapter 4 haven’t been revealed yet, Chapter 3 ended with a gravely-injured John being brought before The Bowery King in his underground lair, and Fishburne’s character alluded to the two of them forming an alliance to bring The High Table down.
John Wick: Chapter 4 opens in theaters on May 27, 2022, and while plans to shoot it and John Wick: Chapter 5 back-to-back were eventually scrapped, the latter project is still in development. The John Wick franchise is also expanding with Starz’s The Continental event series, which just cast Mel Gibson in an undisclosed role.