Keanu Reeves Was Originally Recommended To Be In Death Stranding

At least one person wanted Keanu Reeves to be in Death Stranding, filling Mads Mikkelsen’s role as Cliff, according to Hideo Kojima.

In a tweet, Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima mentioned that film director Nicolas Wending Refn had originally recommended Keanu Reeves to take the role of Cliff.

“However, [Refn] recommended Keanu every time we meet. His experience in “The Neon Demon” made him think it was a great choice. So he highly recommended him”, the tweet reads.

That wasn’t a jab at Mikkelsen, however, and from the tweets it sounds like Kojima never considered the option. According to Kojima, the role of Cliff was tailor-made for Mikkelsen.

“From the beginning of the project, we decided to go with Mads for Cliff. The character was sculpted to fit Mads”, he says.

Still, it’s an interesting 5-second glimpse into the mind of auteur directors- presumably Refn knew the major story beats involved with Cliff in Death Stranding, and saw a reason to suggest Keanu Reeves for the role. Meanwhile, Kojima had envisioned the role with Mads Mikkelsen in it.

Despite that, Keanu Reeves did go on to get a big break in videogames, having been Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077. While the game itself faced mixed reception, praise for Reeves’ portrayal of the Rockerboy was almost universal.

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