Keanu Reeves gets emotional as he remembers 'John Wick' co-star Lance Reddick

Keanu Reeves shared his heartache over the passing of Lance Reddick during an interview at the "John Wick: Chapter 4" premiere held at the TCL Chinese Theater on Monday, March 20.

The actor struggled to find the words when he spoke candidly about how much he would miss working with his co-star, who played Charon in the franchise, during an interview with Deadline. He remembered him as a "beautiful person, a special artist, a man of grace and dignity with such a passion for his craft."

The 58-year-old admitted, "To have had the chance to work with him over the 10 years and four films is something very special to me. It f***ing sucks he's not here."

One netizen noted, "Keanu is a class act. Ran into him on his motorcycle in LA, and was friendly. I'm sure he and Lance had such an incredible unique friendship. You can see how much he's in pain today."

Another commented, "It must be so hard doing an appearance like this, days after someone you've worked with for ten years has passed, and is in the thing you're promoting, while having 100s of people asking you about it, on top of the fact that you're public about being socially anxious."

Reeves shared a similar sentiment in an interview with ET and called Reddick a "shining light." He said, "Lance was a very beautiful person and special artist. His grace and dignity, his shining light of character was just something really special."

The "Matrix" star, along with his "John Wick" co-stars, wore royal blue ribbons during the premiere as a tribute to Reddick. Blue was said to be the late actor's favourite colour. The ribbons were reportedly passed out to those involved in the four films ahead of the premiere and it included a note that read, "We kindly ask you to wear this royal blue ribbon in honor of our dear friend Lance Reddick."

Aside from Reeves, other actors spotted wearing the touching tribute include Laurence Fishburne, Natalia Tena, Rina Sawayama, Ian McShane, and Derek Hough, to name a few.

Reddick's representative confirmed on Friday, March 17 that the actor died suddenly from natural causes at the age of 60. His body was found at his home in Studio City, California. He is survived by his second wife Stephanie Reddick, as well as daughter Yvonne Nicole and son Christopher, whom he welcomed with his first wife Suzanne Yvonne Louis-Reddick, who died in 2011.

At the time his death was announced, Reeves and "John Wick" director Chad Stahelski both shared their sympathies to the bereaved family in a joint statement which read, "We are deeply saddened and heartbroken at the loss of our beloved friend and colleague Lance Reddick."

The pair continued, "He was the consummate professional and a joy to work with. Our love and prayers are with his wife Stephanie, his children, family, and friends. We dedicate the film to his loving memory. We will miss him dearly."

Reddick's wife also reached out to fans and followers with a moving tribute posted on the late actor's Instagram page. She wrote, "Lance was taken from us far too soon. Thank you for all your overwhelming love, support, and beautiful stories shared on these platforms over the last day. I see your messages and can't begin to express how grateful I am to have them."

She added, "And to the thousands of Destiny players who played in special tribute to Lance, thank you. Lance loved you as much as he loved the game."

Aside from "John Wick," Reddick was best known for his role as police officer Cedric Daniels in the hit HBO show "The Wire." He also appeared in "Fringe" as Phillip Broyles and played Chief Irvin Irving in "Bosch." He also appeared in "Oz" and in last year's "Resident Evil." He also voiced Commander Zavala in the "Destiny 2" video game.