Alan Ritchson Says Keanu Reeves Almost Played His Role in Fast X

Alan Ritchson joined the Fast franchise with Fast X, but he says that role almost went to Keanu Reeves. Ritchson plays Aimes, the new head of The Agency previously headed by Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) in the just-released film, and in an interview with EW he noted that the John Wick star was originally planned to play the role.

“It was just a little stroke of luck and good timing,” Ritchson said. “I was working on a movie with Hilary Swank up in Winnipeg in the freezing cold, and I got a call that things had shifted in the plans with Keanu Reeves, which is I think who was originally intended to play my part. Tough act to follow.”

Ritchson himself almost had to drop out, noting, “Basically the deal was if there’s no problems, we don’t shut down for COVID or weather, this should work, and about two weeks later, we got news that we were going to get hit with the biggest blizzard in Winnipeg’s history. All production shut down. It was disheartening. I thought it was over before it began, but luckily we worked it out and they were able to push the dates a little more … So I’m very grateful that it worked out.”

Fast X opened this past weekend and grossed $67 million domestically and $321.4 million worldwide in its first three days.