Halle Berry worked out twice a day and became a dog trainer for John Wick 3
I saw John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum over the weekend, as did a lot of other people. It was the first movie to beat Avengers Endgame since it came out. I’d only seen the second John Wick film prior, but you can pick up the back story in about five minutes. They’re popcorn movies that can seem more like ultra violent video games, but somehow they work. The writing is fresh, funny and has heart and the action scenes are ridiculous and insane. Plus Keanu Reeves brings so much to that role, he’s wonderful. Halle Berry is a natural fit in this one as his reluctant ally, a badass assassin with two loyal dogs. (I thought they were German Shepherds but the breed is called Belgian Malinois.)
The dogs also make this movie highly entertaining and watchable. So much went into training and working with those beautiful animals, you can read more about it here. A team of five dogs was trained to respond to the action playfully instead of attacking the stuntmen. Halle worked personally with the dogs for hours every day, playing with them and training them, so they would know her and respond to her commands. Along with that she worked out twice a day for an hour to an hour and a half and she had extensive firearms training! Here’s a link to her training schedule as explained by her trainer and here’s what she said about it:
“The training was like nothing I’ve ever experienced in my whole career — and I’ve done a few action movies before”
“After I saw John Wick 2, I researched how they did this,” Berry said while promoting the film in New York City. “So, I knew how hard it was. Just being in it was life changing. I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder or longer to prepare for a part in a movie.”
“I learned parts of jiu jitsu,” she said. “I learned how to fire a gun. I had never worked with firearms really in that way before.”
“I became a dog trainer,” she continued. “I don’t have a black belt or anything — I didn’t get any belt from this training. But I will tell you this: if someone thought they were going to snatch my purse on the street, they better think again.”
EW has quotes from director Chad Stahelski praising Halle’s dedication and commitment. She did most of her own stunts too. All the training she put into this shows as she embodies that role. Halle is 52, by the way. If you consider that Keanu Reeves is 54 they’re setting the bar quite high for the rest of us aging GenXers. It’s not my job to be super fit and hot though, I just do that as a hobby. (No I don’t, I had to throw out two pints of ice cream last night. I need to get my ass in gear.)
Look at her trainer!
photos credit: WENN and via Instagram
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