Keegan-Michael Key Keanu

Keegan-Michael Key Keanu

Cast: Will Forte, Keegan-Michael Key, Nia Long, Jason Mitchell
Director: Peter Atencio
Genre: Comedy

Synopsis: Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, a.k.a. the hugely popular comedy duo Key & Peele, star in New Line Cinema's action comedy 'Keanu." The two play Clarence and Rell, cousins who live in the city but are far from streetwise. When Rell's beloved kitten, Keanu, is catnapped, the hopelessly straight-laced pair must impersonate ruthless killers in order to infiltrate a street gang and retrieve the purloined feline. But the incredibly adorable kitten becomes so coveted that the fight over his custody creates a gang war, forcing our two unwitting heroes to take the law into their own hands.

Peter Atencio ('Key and Peele," 'The Last Man on Earth") directed the film from a script written by Jordan Peele and Alex Rubens ('Key and Peele," 'Community"). Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Peter Principato, Paul Young, and Joel Zadak produced the film, with Ben Ormand serving as executive producer.

Peele's character, Rell, is an introverted stoner artist, whose precious cat, Keanu, has become his favourite model, and Key is his chipper, all-too-eager-to-please cousin, Clarence.

Keanu
Release Date: May 19th, 2016

About The Production

CLARENCE
Rell, it's gonna be okay. Now I know you don't want to hear this right now, but everything happens for a reason.

RELL
You're right, Clarence. Everything does happen for a reason. I want you to meet… Keanu.

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, better known as Key and Peele, have been making television audiences laugh for years, including on their long-running eponymous Comedy Central series. However, 'Keanu" marks the first time the enormously popular comedy pair have, together, brought their talents to the big screen. In the film they play Clarence and Rell, two decidedly un-street-wise guys who are forced to assume the personas of hardcore killers in order to blend into a street gang. And, with any luck, survive.

They're not in it for the money or the power. All they want is the thing that stole Rell's heart...and was then stolen from him: an adorable kitten named Keanu.

Jordan Peele, who also co-wrote the screenplay with 'Key and Peele" writer Alex Rubens, offers, 'I wanted to do something crazy and over the top and dark, expanding on the kind of comedy we did in the -Key and Peele' show. The roles of Clarence and Rell were specifically created for Keegan-Michael Key and me, so we could play them in a way no one else could. I know the things that are unique to us, so I knew if we could capture those elements, but in a funny and exaggerated way, we could create something new for us, with characters the likes of which even our fans have never seen."

Keegan-Michael Key reveals he wasn't even aware that his partner had been working on a film until Jordan Peele asked him to come to a reading of his new script. He recalls, 'I didn't have any idea this was happening, so, as you can imagine, I was pleasantly surprised. When I read it, I thought it was perfect for us."

Director Peter Atencio has helmed more than 50 episodes of 'Key and Peele" and knows what sets the duo apart from the rest. 'Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele complement each other extremely well with a combination of talent and comedic instincts. They are incredibly selfless as performers, giving and receiving in equal measure, which I think is a rare quality.

They understand what makes comedy work and can make people laugh, but they're also wonderful actors who can disappear into their roles, making very true choices, coming from a place of being totally in character. It's so much fun to direct them because we can build a world around their characters that feels very real because they make it so believable."

Joel Zadak, another longtime collaborator, produced the film together with Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Peter Principato and Paul Young. Zadak notes, 'Keegan-Michael Key and Jordon Peele are so entertaining to watch and also come to the table with this amazing chemistry. Over the course of five seasons on their own show, fans have come to expect something special from them, something different. What helps earn the audience's trust is they know who Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele are and what they can deliver, so as soon as they come on the screen, the audience is already rooting for them."

One of the trademarks of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele's humour has been their ability to turn on a dime, changing their speech, posture and entire demeanor to go from urbane men of color in suburbia to urban African Americans in the inner city. In 'Keanu," they push the envelope on their comedy brand.

Jordan Peele affirms, 'The code-switching theme is something we use a lot, because that happens no matter what race you are. If you need to, you act like a badass in the right scenario, and then the nerdy side comes out amongst your friends. I don't care how bad you are; we all have a nerdy side. This movie was designed to take that Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele premise and run with it as far as we could possibly go."

Keegan-Michael Key expands, 'For me and Jordan Peele, everything is about culture and about adjusting to the culture you're in, in the moment. From the earliest drafts, the script was partly an exploration of these two men and what it means to be African American in our country. If I was born and raised in suburbia in the States, why can't I talk like this and still be black? That's a theme that runs throughout the movie and it's ubiquitous in -Key and Peele.' That's the lens through which Jordan Peele and I see the world, so there was no way that wasn't gonna have its fingerprint on this film."

Though that basic premise was there from the outset, there was something missing. Screenwriter Alex Rubens explains, 'We had the script and were feeling pretty good about it, but at a certain point Jordan Peele asked, -Where's the heart?' Can we get an -awww' in there without sacrificing the rest of it?"

The awww factor came in the form of an adorable kitten, who becomes what Jordan Peele calls 'the symbol of our heart and our journey."

'It's funny," continues Alex Rubens, 'because the cat is very much the heart of the movie, yet he came in later in development. There's almost a -meta' element, in that the way this cat wanders into Rell's life kind of matches the process of writing the movie. Suddenly we -found' a cat and the story had a whole new life to it. We loved the ridiculousness of the situation…that it's all about this tiny kitten."

But not just any kitten.

'Our kitten, Keanu, is so irresistibly cute that everyone who comes in contact with it immediately falls in love," states Peter Atencio. 'So whether you're a ruthless drug lord or a murderous assassin or just a guy going through a hard time, you're instantly smitten." For the producers, Peter Atencio was the natural choice to direct 'Keanu." Peter Principato attests, 'Peter Atencio is a gifted filmmaker who has directed almost all of the -Key and Peele' shows, so they really consider him the third man on their team. He's got a great eye and had such original ideas for the movie."

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele both agree. 'It's truly a triumvirate with us and Peter Atencio," says Keegan-Michael Key. 'We've worked with him almost exclusively in the television sphere, so we've developed this great shorthand between the three of us that works really well."
Jordan Peele adds, 'We already knew Peter Atencio was a master craftsman just from his ability to put together our extremely difficult show every week, so we were very comfortable having him at the helm. And he loves cats," he smiles, 'so it was perfect."

It was also perfect timing. Peter Atencio relates, 'I got the call from Jordan telling me they had written a script and wanted me to read it, but all I knew going in was that it was about a cat. Coincidentally, I had just gotten a kitten through a friend and had fallen in love with it. So to have those two things happen in close proximity…maybe this was meant to be." The title role of 'Keanu" is actually played by seven equally adorable brown tabbies, all of which were rescued from shelters.

Joining Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in the human ensemble are Method Man, Tiffany Haddish, Luis Guzmán, Nia Long, Will Forte, Jason Mitchell, Darrell Britt-Gibson and Jamar Malachi Neighbors.

The Gang's All Here

When we meet Rell Williams, he's at an all-time low in his life. His girlfriend has just left him, his career as a graphic artist is going nowhere, and life is just not worth living…until he hears a scratch at his door. On the other side, Rell Williams finds a new lease on life in the form of a tiny, green-eyed, brown tabby ball of fluff, which he names Keanu.

Describing his character, Jordan Peele says, 'Rell is a very intense and artistic guy. He is basically the guy that every group of friends has, who never quite moves on to meet his potential because he gets in his own way. Rell is also a loving soul; he wants love in his life.

But at the beginning of the movie, his girlfriend has just broken up with him and he has a hole in his heart, a hole that his kitten, Keanu, has filled. So when Keanu goes missing, we understand how that triggers the collapse of Rell's world and why he's willing to do anything"anything"to get his kitten back. I think that's something almost anyone would do; you would walk into danger for your pet. I know I would…and I'm a coward," he admits.

Rell isn't walking alone. At his side is his cousin, Clarence Goobril, played by Keegan-Michael Key, who notes, 'Clarence does team-building exercises for a living and has created this persona of a guy who's always there to solve a problem and never gets upset. He's also letting people walk all over him and has become a bit of a doormat"trying too hard to do what he thinks everybody else wants him to do. But as the story progresses, we see another side of him come out. He may not be willing to stand up for himself, but he's definitely willing to stand up for his family. So when he sees how despondent his cousin is, Clarence is the one who's like, -Let's go do something!' He begins to discover this other person bubbling up from inside him…and he's enjoying who this person is. He's enjoying being in charge and not taking guff from anybody. And as other people start to look to him and believe in him, a new persona emerges that he feels almost unsettlingly comfortable with."

'I think Clarence and Rell learn different things about themselves," offers Jordan Peele, 'and in the process, they both find their inner badass."

Some women might enjoy having a husband who's all-too-eager to please. Unfortunately for Clarence, his wife, Hannah, isn't one of them. Zadak says, 'He's very much in love with her and probably sacrifices himself too much for her, and as much as Hannah loves her husband, she's a little exhausted by him. She challenges Clarence to be his own man. And," he adds about the actress behind the role, 'if any man were lucky enough to be married to Nia Long and she told him to do something, he would do it without question. She's wonderful."

Cast as Hannah, Nia Long comments, 'She is slightly bohemian, but she's also a perfectionist with a Type-A personality. She wants her husband to stand up for himself. Grow a pair! She finds his constant need to over-explain and over-analyze annoying and unsexy." 'It was such a pleasure to work with Nia Long," says Keegan-Michael Key. 'I hope it translates on-screen that Clarence is annoying Hannah because, off-screen, we were having a great time."

After Keanu is stolen, Rell and Clarence get a major clue as to his whereabouts from Rell's neighbor"and friendly neighborhood weed dealer"Hulka, played by Will Forte. Peele remarks, 'We wrote Hulka as this over-the-hill dude who's obsessed with old-school hip-hop. The character is actually based on a lot of guys I've known in Hollywood, but when we thought of Will, we realized it had practically been written for him. All the comedic tricks Will Forte does better than anyone else, this character has. He's one of those performers to whom you can say, -Forget the lines, just go off for five minutes,' and he'll fill those five minutes with completely different, totally useable bits."

'Keanu" reunited Will Forte with Peter Atencio, who had directed him in episodes of 'The Last Man on Earth." The director states, 'Will is an amazing comic actor. He's a lot like Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, in that he really gets into character, disappears into a role and makes unbelievably funny choices. He came in ready to do whatever it took to make it real and to do something unique. Somehow I convinced him to put his hair into cornrows, and not just his hair, but also his beard. As it turns out, it's a very painful process."

Will Forte avows, 'Nobody tells you how torturous getting cornrows is. It's like somebody pulling your hair for two hours; it's the worst thing ever, and it's not like the pain stops once they're in. It's certainly not a good look on me, and it's not worth the pain as far as I'm concerned, but I'd do anything for Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.

'I've been a fan of their show for a long time," Will Forte continues. 'They're just so funny and such sweet guys, too. It's exciting to work with people you have a lot of respect for, and it was the best experience to get to know them and laugh with them."

Hulka tells Rell and Clarence that the guys who broke into Rell's place, and might have Keanu, are former members of the Bloods and the Crips who formed their own gang: the 17th Street Blips. They hang out at an old strip joint called HPV, which was the unfortunate acronym for Hot Party Vixens.

The leader of the Blips, Cheddar, is played by the rapper-turned-actor called Method Man. 'Cheddar is big on loyalty," observes Method Man. 'His overall thing is to have people around that are loyal to him and that he can call family because he's probably never had one of his own. He's unpredictable; you don't know whether he's gonna hug you or hit you, and I like that about him."
'Method Man"or, as I got to call him, Cliff"is an incredible performer," Peter Atencio says. 'He had to bring a level of intensity and danger to his role and he just nailed it. It's bizarre because he plays Cheddar with such menace, and yet he's one of the nicest human beings I've ever met. So you'd have this guy, who's like the cuddliest, sweetest person, and then he'd become Cheddar and it's like a light switch had flipped. He had this threatening quality and you could hardly look him in the eyes because he was so scary."

Peter Principato adds, 'We felt lucky that Method Man wanted to do it because"I don't know if I'm outing Jordan Peele here"Method Man is one of his heroes; he's been a fan since he was a child. Method Man came in and was so professional and so prepared and very dedicated to making the threat of his character feel real."

Cheddar's second in command is unexpectedly a woman, who goes by the name Hi-C. Actress and stand-up comedienne Tiffany Haddish, who was cast in the role, relates, 'She's a gangsta chick from Bliptown, who happens to be quite wise. I was excited about being Hi-C because I got to play someone that I was in my early 20s. I used to be in the hood, I used to be around a lot of gangbangers, and I wanted to be part of something. In the film, they accept me; in real life, they'd be like, -You can't be no gangster; you're too cute for that.' But I've definitely got street cred."

Peter Atencio affirms, 'Tiffany Haddish will be quick to tell you she comes from South Central Los Angeles, and that is a badge of pride for her. She very much lived a lifestyle that is similar to her character, so she brought a lot of authenticity to the role of Hi-C. She's also hilarious. There's no one on Earth quite like Tiffany; she can do it all. She can go from making you terrified, but in a funny way, to playing a very sweet, emotional scene opposite Jordan Peele."

'Tiffany Haddish is a star," Jordan Peele agrees. 'The kind of energy she brings to the room is just contagious. She's a terrific stand-up and an amazing person, very supportive and sweet."

The admiration was mutual. 'Working with Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele was so much fun," says Tiffany Haddish, who reveals it was also something of a dream come true. 'I was definitely familiar with Key and Peele. I had been watching their show for quite some time and always said, -One day I'm gonna work with them, one day I'm gonna work with them…' I kept thinking it and believing it, and, boom, here I am."

Maybe it's the C-note Clarence flashes, or maybe it's sheer curiosity about what these two goofballs"who call themselves Tectonic and Shark Tank"could possibly want with the boss, but Hi-C knows this is too good to pass up. She takes them upstairs to see Cheddar, who, when he isn't pointing a gun at them, is cuddling a precious little furball decked out in a chain collar and a tiny, black doo-rag. Keanu.

Playing it cool, Clarence and Rell offer to buy Cheddar's kitten, being in the market for a 'gangster pet." But Cheddar has already leapt to a conclusion so far-fetched it has its own zip code: Tectonic and Shark Tank are the dreaded Allentown brothers, two merciless killers who had just attacked the den of drug lord King Diaz, leaving no survivors. He makes them an offer: if they will accompany Hi-C and a few of his gang on a drug buy and show them how it's done, he'll let them buy his kitten. For Tectonic, or rather Rell, there is no hesitation. Deal.

Accompanying Tectonic, Shark Tank and Hi-C on the drug run are Bud, Stitches and Trunk, played respectively by Jason Mitchell, Jamar Malachi Neighbors and Darrell Britt-Gibson. 'We are part of the Blips," says Jason Mitchell. 'My character, Bud, is a serious gang banger and it's not lost on him that this whole situation is because of a cat."

'I play Stitches," Jamar Malachi Neighbors says. 'I would describe him as the wildcard of the gang. He's often off in his own world and doesn't talk much."

About his own character, Darrell Britt-Gibson admits, 'Trunk is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he has a heart of gold. He's eager to learn and eager to please, so he's a good guy as gang members go."

'Our Blips are a bit of a rag-tag group," says Zadak. 'They're definitely more followers than leaders, and they become fans of Clarence from the jump…though they remain a little skeptical of Rell."

Peter Principato notes, 'Peter Atencio, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele had a specific vision for what they wanted out of the Blips and we had a lot of great guys audition, but Jason Mitchell, Darrell Britt-Gibson and Jamar Malachi Neighbors stood out from the rest. They were just this wonderfully gifted trio of actors who brought something different to the story."

The stakes get even higher for Clarence and Rell when they come into contact with another gangland food group: a drug kingpin named Bacon Diaz, played by veteran actor Luis Guzmán.

Peter Atencio offers, 'Luis is a remarkable actor and can be hilariously funny in such a subtle way. He makes choices you would never have thought to ask him for, but every choice he makes is brilliant. As soon as his name came up for Bacon, we agreed there was no one else who could play that role. And it turned out he's a big fan of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, so it worked out nicely for everybody."

Luis Guzmán confirms that he jumped at the chance to team with the duo, stating, 'I love their show, I love their sense of humour, I love the risks they take. So lo and behold, I get a call about the movie asking if they could send a script, and I said, -Don't bother to send me the script, dude, I'm in!' I felt really privileged to work with two guys I idolise. They are comedy geniuses to me."

Another draw for the actor was working with Peter Atencio. 'Peter Atencio has an incredible ear for comic timing and rhythm and is an excellent collaborator. He had a specific vision for what we were doing, but he was open to ideas, which was great and made it even more special."

With a cast that included a number of comedy pros, improv was to be expected and was, in fact, welcomed by the director, as well as the writers. 'We happened to have had a cast of actors who are experienced improvisers, or total naturals, so I was very comfortable seeing the words get even better," says Jordan Peele.

Alex Rubens acknowledges, 'Comedy writers can be really precious about their words, but working with Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele "who are not only two of the greatest improvisers ever but also master comedy writers themselves"you have the luxury of knowing that whatever you give them, they're only going to make it better."

Keegan-Michael Key reveals they would start with the dialogue as written before going off page. 'Typically, we'd do two runs of the scene where we'd do the lines, and then Peter Atencio would say, -Okay guys, 5K.' A 5K is a fun run, so what that meant was we got to kind of let it breathe and do what we want. And sometimes you get little snippets out of it that help crystallize the scene, or make it clearer. So that's an interesting part of the process."

Kitten, Please

Having some flexibility was a necessity, considering that the title star of the film is a kitten…or, rather, seven of them 'that all have a very short attention span," animal trainer April Mackin acknowledges. 'There are so many things happening on a movie set, so we really worked with the kittens to get them acclimated to all the sounds and the people, and they did great."

The seven tiny, brown tabbies divided acting chores to portray Rell's beloved kitten, which he names Keanu. Though he tells Clarence that Keanu is Hawaiian for breeze, the name will likely ring a different bell for film fans. Key asserts, 'Rell has movie posters on his walls and everything in his life is reverential to cinema, so there was no way this kitten's name was going to be Beauregard or Fluffy. This cat was gonna have a movie star name."

The seven kittens used in the film were in two groups, divided by age. Animal trainer Larry Payne explains, 'It's required by the American Humane Association for kittens to be at least twelve weeks old. We rescued the first three at eight weeks so we had four weeks of training, but these guys grow very fast and filming obviously takes place over a longer period of time than the story. We needed to keep the size about the same so we adopted four more kittens for the last few weeks of production."

'All of the kittens were rescued from shelters, so they truly went from rags to riches," states April Mackin. 'It was awesome that we not only found kittens that were perfect, but we were also saving lives."

The young age of the kittens turned out to be of benefit to the trainers. 'You know the old expression -scaredy cat' because cats tend to want to run away and hide," says Larry Payne. 'But one nice thing with our kittens is they were growing up in that environment, with all the noise and activity of a film set, so it was normal for them. They were like, -Oh, this is what kittens do; all kittens work on movies.'"

'I think it went to their heads a little bit," says the director, with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. 'Like any actor, they expected to be well taken care of, so we just had to deal with that. The kittens had to have very nice food and accommodations, but they were doing a really good job so it was hard to say no to their demands."

Similar to dogs, training kittens involves a combination of repetition and positive reinforcement; however, as Larry Payne points out, there are some notable distinctions. 'We coax them one way or another into a behaviour with food and then reward them. And while dogs get a glimmer of the behaviour with very few repetitions, cats generally take a lot more. Another difference is that dogs are bred to please their masters, whereas cats are generally pleasing themselves."

As the trainers worked with the kittens, they discovered their particular strengths, which helped determine which one would be used in any given scene. Larry Payne expounds, 'Because of their individual personalities, they each might be prone to certain behaviours, so one might be better at sitting and staying, and another at running. We'd rehearse scenes over and over and pick the best two because, by having two ready to go, we could give one a break if the scene was taking a while."

Peter Atencio reveals he was a bit nervous about relying on the kittens' ability to follow directions, admitting, 'I went into this process incredibly concerned that any time we needed something from the cat, it was going to bring production to a halt. But I have to say I was proven wrong; anything we asked those kittens to do, they hit the mark. We had shots where everyone watching the monitors went -awww' out loud without even realising they were doing it, because they saw something so cute it was just an instinctual reaction. So I think the old adage should be -Don't work with kids or animals unless it's cats,' because a child cat is actually the best actor I've ever worked with," he laughs.

Throughout production, the comfort and safety of the kittens was paramount to the director, cast, trainers and crew. April Mackin confirms, 'Everyone was fantastic with the kittens. They were so respectful of them and concerned for their welfare."

The kittens returned the favour. Larry Payne recalls, 'If someone was having a tough day, we'd bring in a kitten and it changed everyone's mood. Holding or playing with a kitten made everyone happy."

The other animal on the set wasn't quite as soothing: an 18-foot reticulated python, ironically named Fluffy. Peter Atencio relates, 'I don't mind snakes, but you quickly find out who on your crew is not a fan of snakes when they bring in an 18-foot python. It definitely separates the men from the boys for lack of a better term because the snake comes out and that thing means business. We had snake handlers"and that's a very accurate term because you don't really train a snake. You hope it's going to do what you want, but that snake had a mind of its own; if it wanted something over there, it was going over there. It took three very strong guys to not let it get where it wanted to go."

The director emphasizes that one character could not interact with Fluffy. 'Keanu was never allowed to be around when the snake came out because a kitten would be like a bag of potato chips to that snake, so we definitely didn't want them to cross paths."

Will Forte, whose character has a close encounter with the snake, was not so lucky. He confesses, 'Snakes are one of my biggest fears. The handlers kept the snake cooled down, which was supposed to make it lethargic, but that thing was not lethargic. In fact, it was very energetic. They kept positioning it so that its head was away from me, but as soon as the handler turned around, it would literally snake back around and move toward my face. Snakes are not the Will Forte of animals," he jokes. 'They do not take direction well."

Shooting In The Big Easy

Although 'Keanu" is set in Los Angeles, the movie was filmed on location in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, in the dead of summer. The combination of heat and stifling humidity proved a challenge to the Californian cast and crew members.

Tiffany Haddish attests, 'Making a movie in the summer in New Orleans, the hardest part isn't knowing your lines; it's pretending you're not melting in the heat. I was telling my body, -Don't sweat, just chill. Stay in character, but think cool thoughts.'"

The abandoned St. Maurice's Church in the Lower Ninth Ward became the site of several interior sets, including King Diaz's drug manufacturing facility and several upstairs rooms in the HPV strip club.

Scenes in the main room of the strip joint were filmed at an actual club in East New Orleans. 'I think those were the most fun to shoot," says Keegan-Michael Key. 'Method Man, from Wu-Tang Clan, is a real entertainer and he would go out and keep the crowd going, so it felt like we were literally having a dance party and there just happened to be some cameras around. It was a really festive atmosphere."

A mansion in the city of Covington, Louisiana, became Bacon Diaz's palatial estate. Another upscale residence in the nearby village of Folsom was used as the Hollywood Hills home, where a pivotal turn of events tests the mettle of Tectonic and Shark Tank.

Clarence and Hannah Goobril's suburban home was found among a row of craftsman houses in the Gentilly Terrace neighborhood.

Rell's apartment building was located in the Garden District of New Orleans. Production designer Aaron Osborne offers, 'It was this beautiful 1930s stucco apartment building like so many in L.A. It was perfect for Rell's apartment, as well as Hulka's right across the way, so we latched onto it."

Osborne plastered the walls of Rell's place with current and classic movie posters to establish his passion for cinema. And soon after taking Keanu into his home, Rell finds a way to combine that love of cinema with the new love in his life. Jordan Peele explains, 'Rell is a huge movie buff, so the first thing he does with Keanu is to create this calendar, putting his adorable kitten into scenes from all these violent `90s films, like -Point Break,' -The Shining,' -Heat' and -Crimson Tide.' So we had the joy of actually making this calendar, and it was a dream to see it realized by an amazing team of designers."

Costume designer Abby O'Sullivan had the unique task of fashioning the tiny costumes for the kitty calendar. 'It was wonderful to try and re-create those memorable costumes on these furry creatures," she remarks. 'The biggest concern was how to fit the kittens into each piece. We had to consider everything"from how the kittens would be positioned, to what could be fastened where, to fabrication for flexibility. What would stay on the cat and what irritated them changed by the minute, so it was challenging but, as you can imagine, hilarious. We also had to make sure the costumes translated as they needed to for the various movie characters Keanu was supposed to be."

Of course, Abby O'Sullivan had the more traditional job of designing the costumes for the human characters as well, beginning with Rell and Clarence. She details, 'Since Clarence and Rell are in variations of one outfit through a majority of the film, it was important that their appearance fully reflect who they are at the start"suburban guys from a sunshiny world"in comparison to where they end up. We wanted the -fish-out-of-water' element to be clearly defined in their clothes."

Describing Rell's attire, Abby O'Sullivan says, 'He is heavily pop influenced and an artist, so his palette is bright and modern, with a bit of on-trend flair. Jordan and I wanted to have a nod to his character's graphic designs in his wardrobe, and I was lucky enough to work with graphic designer Jeremy Fish and get his inventive pattern for Rell's T-shirt."

For Clarence, the designer notes, 'I loved Keegan's take on his character, so we dressed him in the most minivan-driving, California-casual wardrobe we could muster. We meet him in a palm leaf-print polo and shorts, matched with an absurdly safe loafer, and completed the outfit with a khaki windbreaker, which says it all."

By contrast, Cheddar looks ready for war. 'There was a strong military influence in his look," O'Sullivan elaborates. 'I had a custom bulletproof vest made in his gang colors and paired it with designer fatigues. We wanted his look to show money but be true to his surroundings. His jeans are True Religion, but in a flashy tie-dyed wash and paired with slick Versace lion black sneakers."

O'Sullivan dressed Hi-C similarly to the rest of the Blips, explaining, 'She is a gangland girl in a boys club, so she should wear what the men wear and let her female physique be the differentiation. She has leather pants and Fly Jordans, and wears the white A-shirt tank that all the guys wear. And they all sport the gang colors"a black background with a purple motif."

The final creative element in 'Keanu" was the music, which continues the code-switching theme. Interwoven in the score by Steve Jablonsky and Nathan Whitehead is a mix of songs ranging from the hard rap of artists like N.W.A. and Future, among others, to the beat of Clarence's favorite, George Michael, whose crossover appeal has never been more evident. The song selections bridge the divide between pop and rap just as Key and Peele's characters traverse the line from their safe, suburban existence to the perils of the city's gang central.

Jordan Peele relates, 'Ultimately, it's a movie about two guys: one who needs to find his kitten; and the other who needs to find out how to become a badass and bring it home. That's the journey."

Peter Atencio concludes, 'Clarence and Rell are trying to save their friend, Keanu, but they're also kind of trying to find their place. Maybe even they didn't realize it at the beginning, but they're not quite as comfortable as they thought being the boring, nerdy guys they start out as, but they're also definitely not comfortable being in this violent gang. That's very much a theme of the movie"the ability to navigate the social environments you find yourself in, which is something I think we all do. But it's wrapped up in this combination of action, thrills and, of course, comedy. You never really know what to expect, and those are my favourite kinds of films. It just keeps you on your toes the entire time."

Keanu
Release Date: May 19th, 2016