Keanu Reeves had one major stumbling block while working on his latest book.
In an interview published in The Sunday Times on Sunday, July 28, Reeves, 59, opened up about the surprising technological issue he ran into during the process of writing his new novel, The Book of Elsewhere with award-winning author China Miéville.
“I had no idea how to use Microsoft Word,” The John Wick star admitted to the outlet, though his writing partner eventually showed him the ropes.
The new fiction book is a spin-off of Reeves’ BRZRKR graphic novels, which he began working on in 2021 and currently spans 12 comic books.
When it came to writing his latest work, the actor told The Sunday Times that he emailed Miéville roughly three years ago to inquire about collaborating. However, the author told him in response that he needed some time to finish working on another project before he could get started.
“He was, like, ‘Yeah, I like you, Keanu, and this idea seems intriguing,’” Reeves told the outlet, adding, “‘But’ — and I found this f—ing awesome — ‘by the way I need six more months to work on a different story for myself.’”
Though Miéville light-heartedly noted that he “didn’t quite say it in such an offhand manner,” his response didn’t put the actor off.
“That to me was, like, ‘F— yeah,’ ” Reeves said of the interaction. “It was like an artist saying, ‘I want to work with you, but I’m [busy] creating something.’ ”
Despite the short delay in starting, the book was “joyful” to write, Miéville told The Sunday Times, and the outlet noted that it was completed in four drafts.
The Book of Elsewhere, which came out on July 23, follows an immortal warrior known as B who “wants to be able to die,” according to a synopsis.
The synopsis continues, “In the present day, a U.S. black-ops group has promised him they can help with that. And all he needs to do is help them in return. But when an all-too-mortal soldier comes back to life, the impossible event ultimately points toward a force even more mysterious than B himself.”
Speaking about his book character, he said that B is “seeking his humanity” and “understanding of the self” – which the actor relates to in real life. “As we all know in our own lives, that’s not always so easy. And then you add immortality,” he added.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE published on July 23, Reeves spoke about the different topics the novel explores.
“It’s a contemporary novel that deals with fantasy . . . how we make sense of the world through metaphor. It’s got something to say in terms of love and life and grief and death and who we are and what we do, fantastical or not,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Reeves’s seminal graphic novel BRZRKR is currently being adapted into a feature film and anime spinoff series by Netflix, with the actor himself slated to star as B.
The anime series will expand the fictional universe by “exploring different elements of the story,” according to Netflix.
