Rina Sawayama attends The BRIT Awards 2021 at The O2 Arena on 11 May 2021 in London, England. (Photo by JMEnternational/JMEnternational for BRIT Awards/Getty Images)
Pansexual pop icon Rina Sawayama is going to star alongside Keanu Reeves in the upcoming instalment to his action-packed John Wick franchise.
Deadline reported Sawayama has been cast in John Wick: Chapter 4, but her role in the movie is being kept secret. The film is being directed by Chad Stahelski, who also directed the first John Wick movie.
Stahelski said in a statement to Deadline that he was excited to have Sawayama join the cast of the upcoming movie, saying she is an “incredible talent”.
“I’m so glad to have Rina on board to make her feature film debut in John Wick: Chapter 4,” Stahelski said. “She’s an incredible talent who’ll bring so much to the film.”
According to IMDb, John Wick: Chapter 4 is set to be released some time in 2022. Deadline reported the movie’s production team will begin shooting scenes this summer on location in France, Germany and Japan.
The John Wick franchise focuses on former assassin John Wick, played by Keanu Reeves, as he seeks vengeance after men broke into his home, stole his car and killed his puppy, which was the last gift from his deceased wife.
The two sequels deal with the aftermath of the original film as John Wick is forced to honour a debt from his past life and then is excommunicated for breaking a foundational rule for assassins in the franchise.
Rina Sawayama shared her joy at being cast in the fourth instalment of the John Wick series. The pansexual singer-songwriter wrote on Twitter: “My feature film acting debut in John Wick 4 !!!!!! I’m so excited !!!!!”
my feature film acting debut in John Wick 4 !!!!!! I’m so excited !!!!! 😭😭😭https://t.co/1Xujvup4WG pic.twitter.com/Xr2CzXUgxt
— RINA SAWAYAMA (@rinasawayama) May 27, 2021
Sawayama, who was born in Japan and raised in London, released her critically-acclaimed debut album SAWAYAMA last year. She also recently released a new version of “Chosen Family”, which first appeared on the album, with music legend Elton John.
According to The New York Times’ Style magazine, the two singers became friends after John listened to Sawayama’s album and called her to tell her “how brilliant it was”. John said the two musicians were “phone friends” at first” before Rina Sawayama asked if he would like to record a version of “Chosen Family” together.
“The lyrical content is so beautiful,” John said. “There were so many brutal things going on in the world when the record came out, especially in America, and yet it made me feel as if all would be OK.”