Bill Skarsgård Was Originally Supposed to Play a Different Character in JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4

John Wick: Chapter 4 introduced fans to a sinister new villain named Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont. This was an interesting character, and one of the things that made him so memorable was the fantastic performance given by Bill Skarsgård. He’s a fun actor to watch in the projects that he takes on, like Pennywise in the It films. He just does some interesting things when playing his characters, and because of that director Chad Stahelski wanted him in John Wick: Chapter 4, but he had a completely different role in mind for the action when he approached him.

During a recent interview with EW, Stahelski said the character he wanted Skarsgård didn’t even make it in the final film He explained: "There was one I was thinking about, it was an older script with a character we no longer have, thinking, oh, he'll just go for that one. It was a bit of an action role.”

The director went on to talk about why he wanted Skarsgård in his film and shared how he approached him for it saying:

"My former partner Dave Leitch, he used Bill on Atomic Blonde and during that process I got to meet him, and I really liked him, and I loved his work. Every time I [saw him in a film], I was just amazed about how he can morph his body and says a lot with non-verbal acting. I thought that was fascinating and that kind of fits with our world. I called Bill, I said, 'Hey, I'm doing another John Wick, maybe there's a part in it for you, If we'll send you the rough script, and see if there's anything you like.' I didn't say a word about which role."

Skarsgård ended up liking the film's main villain, and that’s who he wanted to play. Stahelski went on to say:

"He calls me back and he's like, 'I'd love to play the Marquis.' I'm like, 'No, Bill, that's the bad guy. You don't want the bad guy.' He's like, 'No, no, that's the fun role! This is the delicious role!' I'm like, 'Oh, right on!'"

So, Stahelski ended up casting Skarsgård in the Marquis role, and the actor was able to give us one of the most memorable villains in the John Wick franchise.