Keanu Reeves stars in The Watcher as a charismatic, charming serial killer, but it turns out he was tricked into the role through shady circumstances. Reeves is of course one of the most beloved actors of his generation, and boasts dozens of hits on his long resume. One area Reeves hasn't ventured into often though is the realm of horror films, wth his most famous horror roles being hotshot lawyer Kevin Lomax in The Devil's Advocate, and scumbag domestic abuser Donnie Barksdale in Sam Raimi's The Gift.
It's even less often that Reeves plays a villain, as his natural charm and likeability usually make him hard to root against. That was certainly not the case with The Watcher's David Allen Griffin, a strangler who stalks women without close personal attachments before eventually killing them, assuming they won't be missed by anyone. Griffin is a confident to the point of arrogant killer, who enjoys taunting and playing mental games with the FBI agent hunting him, Joel Campbell (James Spader).
Reeves doesn't necessarily give a terrible performance in The Watcher, but based on his other villainous turns, one can't help but feel that he's not giving the role his all. There's a very good reason for that perception, as he really, really didn't want to be in the movie.
The Watcher: How Keanu Reeves Was Tricked Into Playing the Lead
Keanu Reeves' saga with The Watcher goes back several years before it actually got made. One day, while playing hockey with his now one assumes former friend Joe Charbanic, who would go on to direct The Watcher, Reeves verbally agreed to play a small role in the film in order for Charbanic to use his recognizable name to obtain financing. Reeves' star power worked very well in that regard, even before his signature role in The Matrix, and The Watcher's budget soared to $30 million. Where things went wrong for Reeves is that his character was rewritten to become a leading role, appearing in much of the film instead of just a small portion.
Reeves considered backing out of The Watcher, but his legal team warned of a prior case in which an actor broke a verbal agreement and ended up in a protracted legal battle. Reeves decided to make the movie, but got even angrier later once he found out his co-stars James Spader and Marisa Tomei were pocketing a cool $1 million each for their work, while he was being paid only union scale. In an effort to smooth things over with Reeves, distributor Universal agreed to mostly exclude him from The Watcher's marketing and allow him to not participate in any press for the film, provided Reeves agreed to wait at least one year after release to publicly reveal his issues with the production.
Sure enough, a year later Reeves revealed the whole story, including the fact that another likely former friend of his had forged his signature on a contract for The Watcher, and Reeves' legal team didn't believe he could conclusively prove the forgery in court, adding another reason for him to just give up and do the movie. Reeves' judgment of The Watcher seems to have been correct, as it didn't earn much more than its budget at the box office, and critic reviews were scathing. Sadly, Reeves also received a Razzie nomination for his performance.