‘One of the hardest moments to film’: Ballerina’s most simple action sequence on paper ended up being the most challenging for a big reason, director says
(Image credit: Lionsgate)
- Ballerina‘s director has revealed which fight sequence was the most difficult to film
- It wasn’t the flamethrower or club-based action set-pieces
- The duel between Eve and John Wick was also an “incredible day on set”
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina‘s director has revealed which fight sequence was the most challenging to film.
Speaking to TechRadar ahead of Ballerina‘s June 6 release, Len Wiseman admitted “one of the hardest moments” of the entire shoot is one that audiences won’t expect it to be, either.
Full spoilers immediately follow for the Ana de Armas-led action thriller. Do not proceed unless you’ve watched it.
Okay, which set-piece caused the most headaches? It’s got nothing to do with the third act’s lethal flamethrower-based sequence. Act 1’s nightclub brawl, a classic staple of the John Wick movie series, wasn’t as taxing as the scene that Wiseman has in mind, either.
According to the filmmaker behind one of June 2025’s new movies, the most difficult moment to capture was part of the alpine restaurant duel between de Armas’ Eve Macarro and a member of the cult led by Gabriel Byrne’s Chancellor. The reason it was so challenging? The plates, which Eve and her fellow combatant attack each other with during a smirk-inducing sequence, kept breaking when they shouldn’t have.
“The restaurant fight is a favorite of mine because there were a lot of important story beats that were landing, and it was incredibly fun to shoot,” Wiseman told me.
“But the plate sequence was one of the hardest moments to film. They’re breakaway plates, so they have one job [to break upon impact without hurting the actors], and they do it well.
“The problem is, when you pick them up, they immediately shatter. So, they [the actors] had to delicately pick up each one and then bring them down on their opponent with real force. The amount of times they grabbed a plate and they’d shatter… I lost count of how many times we had to glue them back together. I remember the props department asking me if 100 plates would be enough, and I said ‘yeah’. Well, we went through all 100 plates multiple times, so you can imagine what state they were in when we were done!”
Understandably, each action sequence in the fourth John Wick film (chronologically, anyway – read my John Wick movies in order guide for more details) came with its own set of challenges. That included the one-on-one between Eve and Keanu Reeves’ iconic hitman, which takes place in Ballerina‘s final act.
“That was an incredible day on the set,” Wiseman said of shooting the confrontation between Eve and the franchise’s titular assassin.
“It’s a moment in the movie that’s really fun and tense, but we were well aware that we needed to ensure there was a balance to the fight. John Wick is the so-called Baba Yaga, and while he’s more experienced and skilled than Eve, we didn’t want her to feel upstaged in her own movie. So, we wanted her to hold her own at times, and for this fight to have a purpose for what he’s offering her in terms of her character development. It’s not just a fight, it’s a fight that has meaning.”
Ballerina is out now in theaters worldwide. If you’ve watched it, see if you agree with my thoughts on the latest Wick flick by reading my Ballerina review. Alternatively, check out more exclusive content from my chats with Wiseman, plus actors Ian McShane and Norman Reedus, below.
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