Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder invite you to a Destination Wedding

Two of Hollywood's biggest stars have teamed up once again for a deliciously witty and quirky new romantic comedy
Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder star in Destination Wedding.Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder star in Destination Wedding.
Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder star in Destination Wedding.

Fresh from their incredible successes in the John Wick films and Stranger Things respectively, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder, previously seen together onscreen in Bram Stoker’s Dracula among other huge cinematic hits, team up for a razor-sharp romantic comedy.

The directorial debut of Emmy-nominated Mad Men writer Victor Levin, Destination Wedding sees the pair meeting on the way to a wedding and discovering they have plenty to talk about - mainly their hatred of weddings and each other. Squabbling and bickering ensue before they even reach the wedding when things take an unexpected turn.

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Here, the two leads tell us about what people can expect from the film.

The romantic comedy is released in cinemas in May.The romantic comedy is released in cinemas in May.
The romantic comedy is released in cinemas in May.

What can you tell us about your characters?

KR: Winona’s playing this character named Lindsey and, well, she was engaged to my brother. But then he called it off and [laughing] she sued him for some expenses. Frank doesn’t have a high opinion of his brother but she loved him for some reason and she got, for some reason, invited to the wedding.

WR: I do think that she’s sort of, in a way, a little bit of a broken person and I think she’s been very sort of hurt in love and I think that created a real fear of intimacy…but also a deep desire for it at the same time.

KR: They’re both kind of wounded creatures. I think they share a bit of a personal worldview of, like, people suck and life is… But also, at the same time they’re opposite sides of the same coin in a weird way. Frank doesn’t believe anything’ll last and doesn’t trust anything. Lindsey feels the same way but there’s a little bit more of an optimist in there. So there’s like a pessimist-optimist, but they both are suffering about can they make it happen. Can they be in love? Can they have a good life?

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Despite being a bit broken, they both manage to be incredibly funny. What do you think of the humour in the film?

KR: I like that the humour is coming from their own self-awareness, in the sense that even though they’re at a destination wedding and they destroy other people’s characters - deservedly so, because they’re awful - it really does come from their own emotion and their own worldview. Which I guess is what humour is, right? Sharing one’s perspective.

But, the tone of it, where it comes from, I enjoyed the kind of - for Frank, at least - the kind of curmudgeonly misanthropic professor [laughs].

What do you hope audiences will take away from Destination Wedding?

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KR: Hopefully a good time. Hopefully, enjoy the characters, enjoy the dialogue. I’m sure a lot of it will be relatable to a lot of people.You know, I mean, intimacy’s tough but it’s also the gift.

You’ve both worked together a few times now. What was it like to work with each other again?

KR: It was really great to work with Winona again. She’s a beautiful person and incredible actress. I’ve had the chance to work with her a few times over the years and it was really great to reunite and to reunite in a romantic comedy. Because I do love that girl.

WR: I just have so much love and respect for (Keanu) and it genuinely makes going to work and working an absolute pleasure. I can’t imagine it doing it with anybody else but him.

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I’ve been so lucky in my life that I’ve worked with so many great actors but there is something very, very special with Keanu. There is a trust there and a feeling that I’m protected and safe. But not… It’s not like we’re playing it safe. Like, he’s constantly surprising me but to know that someone has your back like that is… It can be rare.

Why do you think you both like working together so much?

KR: We like each other...We have gone up against it and gone through the process many times. And we’re kind of cut from the same acting cloth. So we review a rehearsal the same and we review what a character is, we look at how to develop a scene together.

WR: We were working before there was Wikipedia or the computer.

KR: We’re analogue.

WR: Yeah.

KR: We’re old.

WR: [Laughing] We are that.

KR: Yeah we’re a… we’re, like, you know…we’re vaudeville!

WR: [Doing jazz hands and singing] We’re vaudeville, baby! [Laughs]

DESTINATION WEDDING is released in cinemas on May 10 and on Digital HD on June 21, courtesy of Vertigo Releasing.

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