A viral video of Keanu Reeves has sparked debate online and prompted one local radio show host to share his own Hollywood story.
In a video of Reeves posted to Twitter, the actor can be seen helping crew carry equipment on the set of his new John Wick movie. Many people have responded commending Reeves for being down-to-earth while others have said it wasn't his place or responsibility to help on set.
One of the people to jump to Reeves's defence was Jay Brody, one half of the Sonic Radio duo Carly & Jay.
Brody Tweeted that "people saying that '[Reeves] shouldn’t be praised for helping' have no idea what it’s like working in film." Brody goes on to reference an experience he had working as a bodyguard on the set of the 2008 film The Love Guru, where Mike Myers allegedly had him fired simply because he made eye contact with the Canadian comedian.
"Give Keanu his roses," he finishes.
Brody later clarified his story on-air, explaining that years ago when he was working for a security company that hired out guards he was offered the job of guarding Mike Myers's trailer but there was a catch--he couldn't look at the actor.
Brody says he tried to protest that he would need to look at Myers in order to be his bodyguard but he was told that if he did look, he would be fired. There was also an additional complication, no one knew what Myers was going to look like because he had donned extensive prosthetics, wigs, and makeup to become the problematic "love guru" character.
Brody took the job but asked, "what will happen to me if I get fired?" The company reportedly told him it would be fine they would find him other work.
"The first day, the first hour I'm there," recalls Brody. "I don't know what he looks like yet and I just see a man approaching in a long wig and fake beard and I'm like, I think that's Mike Meyers."
"I look down to not look at him because I don't want to get fired," he continues. "But I kind of realize I can't let just anyone into the trailer so I look up. I catch his eye for a second, I give him a nod to let him know I'm cool, and then I look away."
Within an hour, Brody says he got a phone call letting him know he'd been fired and had to leave the set.
"As far as eye contact goes, it's usually a normal request on set to not look at someone in the eyes because they are acting and it's a distraction," Brody tells V.I.A. but since they weren't on the film set at the time he feels like it was an extremely odd request.
He says that some other actors also try to apply this rule offset but "it usually always makes them look insane." Indeed, many of the replies to Brody's initial Tweet were similar stories about actors being weird about eye contact.
"There was no justifiable reason given. I had good film training at that point and plenty of experience, and knew enough to not stare at any actor, but I needed to look to do my job," he says.
Brody also shares that while he was specifically warned about eye contact, other departments were allegedly told to walk away altogether if Myers was in the vicinity.
"I did not see anyone interact with him, but had friends of mine at the same post, get fired for the exact same reason," he says.
Brody isn't nervous about Myers seeing his Tweet or the video of his and Carly Meyers' radio show. "It's all true, and hopefully he's a much cooler dude to work with now. I imagine that he wasn't well at the time to be such a jerk to so many people."
