John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum director Chad Stahelski reveals that Halle Berry approached him about a role in the film before the script was even written. Demand for Parabellum is reaching a fever pitch as its premiere date approaches, with fans eager to know as much as possible about what will happen to Keanu Reeves' near-mythical assassin before the end credits roll. While we may not be getting many details about the plot of Parabellum, Stahelski's latest comments about Berry's involvement in the film hint at what we can expect from her performance and her character in the final John Wick chapter.
With Parabellum, the wildly successful and popular John Wick franchise will be coming to a close in 2019. Since John Wick's release in 2014 and the release of the 2017 sequel, John Wick 2, Stahelski has made it known that protagonist John Wick's story would come to a close with the third, eagerly-awaited installment, Parabellum (Latin for "prepare for war"). Parabellum will pick up in the immediate aftermath of John Wick 2, with John Wick excommunicated and on the run, having to defend himself against a host of equally skilled assassins looking to scoop up the bounty for killing him. In addition to Berry, new cast members include Angelica Huston, Asia Kate Dillon, and Game of Thrones actor Jerome Flynn.
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Thanks to a new interview with EW, we now know that Berry has been eager to join the John Wick franchise for some time. Regarding the first call he got back in 2017 about Berry wanting to get onboard, Stahelski explains that "it was right before the holidays [in 2017]. I got a call saying, 'Halle Berry would like to meet with you.' I was like, 'That’s cool.' I'd never met her before. She came to my offices in Manhattan Beach the next day, walked right in, sat down, goes, 'I want a part in John Wick 3.' I'm like, 'Well, that’s very flattering, but we don't have a script yet.' She said, 'I don’t care.' I’m like, 'Well, I don't even know if there's a female [part].' She goes, 'I don’t care, I want to be in it, let's party.'"
Stahelski goes on to reveal to EW that not only was Berry keen to get involved with the film regardless of a script actually being written, but she was more than game to dive headlong into filming when he got in touch with her five months after their first conversation. As Stahelski recalls it: "It was like, 'Okay, let's just call her back and see if she's still interested. And she was like, 'Of course, I’m f---ing interested. When do we start training?' I’m like, 'Why don't you come down and watch?' She's like, 'I don't want to watch, I wanna do it.' [She] came in, first day, jumped right in. [She] finished, going, 'Yeah, that was tough, what time do we start tomorrow?'"
Following confirmation that Berry was cast in Parabellum all the way back in May 2018, we've only gotten a handful of hints about who she'll be playing and how she'll relate to John. Fans' first look at Berry's character, Sofia, in June teased that she was a "woman on a mission" — a fact made all the clearer when the second full-length trailer for Parabellum was released in late March of this year. In that second trailer, we saw more of Sofia's skills as an assassin (with plenty of help from her two Belgian Malinois dogs) and got hints at her tense alliance with John. The desire to see John not only survive but go out on a high note is very real. Fingers crossed that with the very-game Berry on board as Sofia to help John triumph, fans will be satisfied with the final chapter when it hits theaters.
More: John Wick 3 Character Posters Highlight the Film's New Assassins
Source: EW
