Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter Take on 'Waiting for Godot'

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: All Of It – Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter Take on 'Waiting for Godot'

Date: November 13, 2025
Host: Alison Stewart
Guests: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter
Topic: The Broadway revival of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, starring longtime friends Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, under the direction of Jamie Lloyd.

---

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode centers on the much-anticipated Broadway production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, starring Keanu Reeves (Estragon) and Alex Winter (Vladimir). Host Alison Stewart explores not just their artistic journey with the play, but also how their decades-long friendship shapes their onstage partnership. The discussion dives into rigorous preparation, the unique directorial vision of Jamie Lloyd, the physical and emotional demands of the play, and the deeply human questions Beckett’s work raises.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Deep Research & Creative Forensics

[02:12 – 04:13]

• Both actors describe their extensive research—visiting Beckett archives at UCLA and the University of Reading, speaking with biographers, and examining Beckett’s manuscripts.
  • Alex Winter: “We were looking for...essences of the play in Beckett's life… using the time that we had to the best of our abilities.”
  • Keanu Reeves: “We were, like, doing forensics, and we were. Creative archaeology.”
  • They drew inspiration from Beckett’s personal history, especially his time in the French Resistance.

Humor and Violence in Beckett

[04:22 – 04:53]

• Keanu: “Don’t forget it’s a comedy, okay? And don’t forget the violence.”
  • Both highlight the play’s blend of humor, wit, energy, and tragedy—a key insight from their research and conversations with previous actors and Beckett scholars.

The Joy and Challenge of Preparation

[05:08 – 06:15]

• Alex: “We took clowning classes, we took buto dance classes. We did a lot of prep, and we met when we could and did script analysis with the play every few weeks in the lead-up.”
  • The long preparation was possible because Keanu first brought up the idea four years ago.
  • It was as much about enjoying the process as achieving technical mastery.

First Encounters with Beckett

[06:15 – 07:19]

• Keanu first read Beckett at 17: “One exchange that always stuck with me was, ‘Let’s go. We can’t. Why not? We’re waiting for Godot…as a 17-year-old, I was waiting too.’”

Broadway Then and Now

[07:39 – 08:21]

• Alex (a veteran of Broadway since childhood) notes how the backstage community feels unchanged, still full of camaraderie and tradition.
  • “That community is the same. I love it. It's...It feels like home.”
• Keanu is making his Broadway debut. When asked why this play:
  • Keanu: “Because it’s fantastic and I get to do it with Alex Winter.”

The Artistic Allure of Godot

[08:53 – 09:56]

• Keanu: “It’s a beautifully written play…It’s thrilling to perform. It’s constantly revealing. There’s always more to think, feel, find out, do. And it’s a profound work of the nature of being alive and dying and waiting for some answers…”

The Physical and Emotional Demands

[10:09 – 11:28]

• Alex: Preparing for eight shows a week required training and careful consideration of family and personal commitments.
  • “Fitness, physical fitness, stamina, eating well, eating healthy...We like Risk…We could have done something else, but the challenge was enticing.”

Broadway’s Enduring Culture

[11:28 – 12:23]

• Keanu: “It’s almost like the culture stays the same. And us artists who come to these theaters, pop in and out. It's like we're the new show. But this culture is existing there…It's very strong, it's very present.”

The Power of Friendship Onstage

[13:33 – 16:39]

• Alex: Performing with a true friend leads to deeper trust and allows for more nuanced, authentic interplay—especially fitting, as the play is about two close companions navigating uncertainty and mortality together.
  • “We can both be independently quite serious minded, veering on…contemplative people…there are times when we're just sitting there riffing…and it could really just be the two of us having a conversation about life and happiness.”
• Keanu: “We had a trust and confidence in our art practice through our friendship… it brought a joy in the research, it brought a shorthand, and it really just kind of reaffirmed our simpatico aspects to the artistic endeavor.”

Navigating the Unique Set

[16:39 – 18:48]

• The set, designed by Sweetra Gilmore, is a tilted, almost tunnel-like stage challenging the actors physically.
  • Alex: “Every minute I'm not on stage, I'm in some form of physical therapy.”
  • The set enforces the play’s themes of instability and discomfort but becomes integral to the actors’ portrayals.

Jamie Lloyd’s Modern Vision

[18:48 – 20:57]

• Director Jamie Lloyd brings pace, modernity, and freshness while staying true to Beckett’s text.
  • Keanu: “Jamie really was promoting the idea of pace and speed…that would be the major change. It's just the pace of the production.”
  • Alex: “He wanted to embrace directing this version of the play as if it was new…And I think that's the right way to come at the play.”

Who Are Vladimir and Estragon?

[21:30 – 23:37]

• Alex (on Vladimir): “He's searching. He's very close to giving up faith, but…still holding on to a shred of faith…His love of Estragon, his fear of losing Estragon, to me, that’s kind of Vladimir’s world.”
• Keanu (on Estragon): “He’s always kind of, you know, what do we do? Let’s go…He just wants to be happy…He doesn’t have the quest, the search for faith quite that I think Vladimir has…these two forces…are working with, together, apart. There's a tension between these two kinds of world points of view of being.”

Audience Takeaways and The Play’s Mystery

[23:42 – 25:23]

• The actors hope the audience leaves with questions, a sense of wonder, or perhaps confusion—emphasizing that great art does not provide simple answers.
  • Alex: “The lobby…is a combination of questioning every single thing about life to…‘I have no idea what the hell is going on.’ Which is good. That's a good thing. I think that it is inspiring questions…there is no single [takeaway]…that's what makes it a great work of art.”

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Preparation:
  • Keanu: “We were, like, doing forensics, and we were. Creative archaeology.” [03:54]
• On Beckett’s Tonal Balance:
  • Keanu: “Don’t forget it’s a comedy, okay? And don’t forget the violence.” [04:22]
• On Their Friendship:
  • Alex: “Because Keanu and I have known each other so long…It’s helpful because we’ll come off stage sometimes and have an idea and, like, we’re just constantly, always thinking, but we’re thinking in somewhat of a unified way…our brains are always kind of thinking on how to make those things work.” [15:48]
• On The Set:
  • Alex: “Every minute I’m not on stage, I’m in some form of physical therapy.” [17:38]
• On Jamie Lloyd’s Directing:
  • Alex: “He wanted to embrace directing this version of the play as if it was new…” [19:42]
• On Audience Reaction:
  • Alex: “The lobby…is a combination of questioning every single thing about life to. ‘I have no idea what the hell is going on.’ Which is good.” [24:22]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Guest Introduction: 01:12
• On Beckett Archive Research: 02:12 – 04:13
• Humor, Violence, and Beckett’s Tone: 04:22 – 04:53
• Preparatory Process & Collaboration: 05:08 – 06:15
• First Reading Beckett: 06:15 – 07:19
• Broadway Then vs. Now: 07:39 – 08:21
• Why Godot, Why Now: 08:53 – 09:56
• Physical Demands & Personal Prep: 10:09 – 11:28
• Broadway’s Enduring Community: 11:28 – 12:23
• Friendship & Working Together: 13:33 – 16:39
• Navigating the Set: 16:39 – 18:48
• Jamie Lloyd’s Directorial Style: 18:48 – 20:57
• Character Portraits: 21:30 – 23:37
• Audience Reactions & Takeaways: 23:42 – 25:23

---

Overall Tone

The conversation is warm, reflective, and richly anecdotal, capturing both the artistry and camaraderie at the heart of this new Broadway production. Both Reeves and Winter bring an evident passion for their craft, a contagious intellectual curiosity, and an openness about the joys and challenges of their endeavor, making for an engaging and insightful episode.

---

Transcript

[WNYC Announcer]

WNYC Studios is supported by Bilt. Nobody wants to pay rent, but if you have to, BILT makes it more worthwhile. By paying rent through Bilt, you can earn flexible points that can be redeemed toward hundreds of hotels and airlines, a future rent payment, your next Lyft ride, and more. But it doesn't stop there. You can dine out at your favorite local restaurants and earn additional points, get VIP treatment at certain fitness studios, and enjoy exclusive experiences just for BILT members. Every month, earn points on rent and around your neighborhood, wherever you call home, by going to joinbilt.com wnyc that's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T.com wnyc For 140 years, MultiCare has been in Washington prioritizing long term solutions, partnering with local communities, and expanding access to care. Together, we're building a healthier future. Learn [e-mail].

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Our next guests, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, are on stage in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Beckett was a bossy one in his script. He made very distinct notes where to pause, where there would be silence, that his two characters must wear bowler hats. The action of the play is two friends who are waiting. What happens when you take a classic play like this one and add director Jamie Lloyd to the mix, a man known for his modernity and his rethinking of original texts, as was the case with Sunset Boulevard and the Doll's House, you get a Broadway production that is both funny and heartbreaking, chic, yet real, with a deep sweetness that can be traced to the actors being true blue friends for decades. And if you need me to tell you why, go look it up. Waiting for Godot is at the Hudson Theater until January 4th. And joining me now are Alex Winter. Hi, Alex.

[Alex Winter]

Hello.

[Alison Stewart]

And Keanu Reeves. Hi, Keanu.

[Alex Winter]

Hello.

[Alison Stewart]

Hello. You prepare for this play by traveling to the University of Reading to England to go through Beckett's arch archives. Alex, what were you looking for?

[Alex Winter]

Well, we went to the UCLA Beckett archives as well and did some other foraging in various places over a few years before we got started. I think we were looking for the characters are. Are rooted in Beckett's own biography, his. His escape from the Nazis during World War II when he was in the French Resistance, and he and his wife were living rough across the French countryside in ditches and eating root vegetables. And so I think we were looking for sort of essences of the play in Beckett's life and just digging into the. The grand tradition of this play being put on Jim Nolson's, Beckett's biographer, medicine, reading. We got to spend time with him. So it was. It was exploratory, you know, using the time that we had to the best of our abilities.

[Alison Stewart]

Keanu, what were you looking for?

[Keanu Reeves]

The same as Alex. And I also was cool to just see different incarnations of the. Of the production over the years and to see transcripts and annotation. And it was really cool to. To speak with Jim as the biographer, just to see if we could. I mean, Alex, we were always like, so, any tidbits? Any recommendations? Any. Any advice, you know? Yeah, yeah, I think.

[Alex Winter]

And with other actors who had done the play and who knew Beckett, we were doing the same. We're just kind of on a. On a recon mission.

[Keanu Reeves]

We were, like, doing forensics, and we were. Creative archaeology.

[Alex Winter]

Yes. And then to Keanu's point, there's an abstraction to that, too. When you. When you look at Beckett's handwriting at the archive or see paintings based on where he was, you get. As an actor, you get kind of abstract nourishment from that that you use in the character.

[Alison Stewart]

Well, what did you learn that helped you understand the play better? Chiana, what did you learn that you thought like.

[Keanu Reeves]

I mean, I think we heard this a couple of times, didn't we? Alex? Don't forget it's a comedy, okay? And don't forget the violence.

[Alex Winter]

Those counterpoints. I think that the fact that the. That fact, the play is beautiful, and it's written with a great deal of momentum and energy and wit and tragedy and sadness. And I think that generally what we were getting was to make sure all of those things got played, because that's what the text is.

[Alison Stewart]

Alex, it's interesting you said that you also went to UCLA to look at the archives, and you had spent several years researching this. Aside from rehearsals and all this, why did you spend so much time rehearsing and getting ready?

[Alex Winter]

Because we had the time, which is so rare in our industry, unfortunately, now. And Keanu had brought this idea to me almost four years ago, and then he and I embarked on it. And, you know, I make documentaries. I'm a research fanatic. And. And we had time, so we used it, and it was to our benefit. We, you know, we took clowning classes, we took buto dance classes. We did a lot of prep, and we met when we could and did script analysis with the play every few weeks in the lead up. And all that time we were talking to Jamie because we had Jamie on board already. So it wasn't like we weren't working on this every day by any stretch of the imagination. This was a drop in and out kind of thing. But it was serious.

[Alison Stewart]

It was sort of lurking in the back of your head. It sounded like.

[Keanu Reeves]

Yeah. And fun.

[Alex Winter]

Yeah, and a lot of fun. Keanu and I were having a lot of fun. I think part of the joy of the two of us doing this together included this prep, the fun of diving into the world of Beckett and not just, let's just show up on day one rehearsal, do a play, and then leave.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah.

[Alex Winter]

So there was a lot of, you know, there's joy in that experience as well.

[Alison Stewart]

Keanu, when did you first read Beckett.

[Keanu Reeves]

In the Fugue of Memory? I would probably say around 17.

[Alison Stewart]

Did you understand it as much as.

[Keanu Reeves]

Someone who's that young can understand it?

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah.

[Keanu Reeves]

I mean, there's definitely themes in it that echoed, you know, some Dostoevskin literature, experience, exposure, you know, reading. You know, Jerry, I know it's probably the same time that I was reading, like, Uber on. Yeah. What else is there? Rhinoceros. So, yeah, I mean, you know, one thing, that one exchange that always stuck with me was, let's go. We can't. Why not? We're waiting for gto just from a kid. I just love that for some reason, the energy of that text and what it meant. Because I think as a 17 year old, I was waiting too.

[Alex Winter]

Waiting for something.

[Keanu Reeves]

I was trying to go, let's go. We can. Why not?

[Alison Stewart]

My guests are Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. We are talking for Waiting for Gadot at the Hudson Theater through January 4th. Alex, you have been on Broadway since you were a child. What has changed and what hasn't changed?

[Alex Winter]

You know, the play itself, doing it with Keanu and, you know, with. In a very modern interpretation about right now. The times have changed. You know, I've changed, and this is a monumental work that we're doing, but other things have really not changed. You know, backstage right now, it feels very similar to the way I grew up backstage in a dressing room, you know, for years and years and years with the smell of a. Of a Broadway house and the teamsters and the stagehands and the, you know, all of that community. And that community is the same. I love it. You know, it's. You kind of plug back into that.

[Keanu Reeves]

That world.

[Alex Winter]

It's very. It feel like home.

[Alison Stewart]

Keanu, this is your Broadway debut? Yes.

[Keanu Reeves]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

Had you been asked before?

[Keanu Reeves]

No. I'm not quite asked. There was bit opportunity. I'll just say no.

[Alison Stewart]

Okay, we'll go with that then. Why this play?

[Keanu Reeves]

Because it's fantastic and I get to do it with Alex Winter.

[Alison Stewart]

What makes it fantastic? I'm curious.

[Keanu Reeves]

It's a beautifully written play. The themes that are in the play. It's wonderful roles for artists to play, to discover the themes of existence, relationship to personal, God, interpersonal dynamics, friendships, master, servant. Textually, the alliterations, the repetitions, the play in it. It's thrilling to perform. It's constantly revealing. There's always more to think, feel, find out, do. Yeah. And it's. It's a profound work of the nature of being alive and dying and waiting for some answers for something. What do you do? What do we do? What do we do?

[Alison Stewart]

Alex, practically. What did you consider when you said yes before doing seven, eight shows a week? Because a theater actor's life is hard.

[Alex Winter]

Well, yeah, we're doing eight shows, you know, the standard run. I just considered kind of mundane practical considerations what I had on my slate. I had a film coming up I was going to do. I've got kids. I have a family. How will that work? Fitness. I immediately started circuit training, like the next day. Fitness, physical fitness, stamina, eating well, eating healthy. But, you know, it's. It's. You know, Keanu and I have talked about this. You know, we could have done a different play. We could have done. There are great plays with two people like Rosencrant and Golden. We could have done something else. Right. But I think that Keanu and I are wired similarly. We are. We. We like Risk. I will say that is something. We're not similar in all ways. That is a way in which we are similar. And I think the challenge of this, of knowing that, that we. That I would need to go get my head around how to meet this challenge was. Was enticing to me because I've always loved this play very much, and I love Beckett in this era of theater very much. But I knew that it was similar doing Shakespeare. You're signing on to something very intense so that. That I had to get my head around that on a practical way, you.

[Alison Stewart]

Know, Kiana, what do you know about being on Broadway that there's no way you could have known before you had done it?

[Keanu Reeves]

What do I know about Broadway now that I've done it that I couldn't have known about it before I did it?

[Alison Stewart]

Yes.

[Keanu Reeves]

Probably. The culture that Alex speaks about, you know, I feel like it's almost like the culture Stays the same. And us artists who come to these theaters, pop in and out. It's like we're the new. We're the new show. But this culture is existing there. They've all worked with each other, they all speak to each other, all of the various theaters, production companies. And it's very strong, it's very present. And I think I couldn't have. I couldn't have known that without actually being in it.

[Alex Winter]

I did try to warn you about everything else as best as I can.

[Keanu Reeves]

You did, you did.

[Alison Stewart]

I'm speaking with Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. We're talking about Waiting for Godot at the Hudson Theater. We'll have more after a quick break. This is all of It. You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. My guests are Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. We're talking about Waiting for Godot at the Hudson Theater through January 4th. So a lot's been written about your friendship. And for those of us, we're about the same, in the same vintage. We're all Gen Xers here. A lot has been written about your interaction on stage. And not to be too gendered about it, but the guys love it. There are two men who have a loving relationship on stage, working together. It's really kind of beautiful. What is being friends, true friends allowed you to do with these characters that maybe you haven't been able to do in other roles. Alex, I'll let you go first.

[Alex Winter]

I think that a couple things. One is it allows us to dig into a different kind of text and a different type of art, which is why we wanted to do it and I think why this idea struck Keanu in the first place. But it struck us because it's about two very close friends who were. Who were performers who are at a period in their life where they're assessing where they've come from and where they're going and their mortality and the meaning of things. And I would say that this. Not that we are these characters, because we're really not, but in subtle ways, this play represents more, in my opinion, on an abstract level, the way we actually interrelate than, say, Bill and Ted, which. Which does in other ways. It's about play. And they're very childlike. And there's a lot of us in Bill and Ted, but, you know, Keanu and I get together, we're kind of like, we can be kind of. We have. We have humor, we laugh a lot, but we can both be independently quite serious minded, veering on I would, I don't want to use the word dark, but, but certainly contemplative people. Right. So I think that, that there are times when we're just sitting there riffing at the beginning of Act 1 and Act 2, and it could really just be the two of us having a conversation about life and happiness and what do these things mean and how does it work and how do we live. But again, it's a little abstract. I wouldn't say that we're these guys. These guys are very specific.

[Alison Stewart]

What do you think about that, Keanu? About your friendship and what it allows you to do on stage?

[Keanu Reeves]

Yeah, I, I, I agree. And I think knowing each other, we had a trust and confidence in our art practice through our friendship. You know, we've worked together, we've maintained or have a friendship over 30 some odd years. And I think, you know, we've collaborated and worked together, you know, over that time. And so I thought it, it kind of, it brought a joy in the research, it brought a shorthand, and it really just kind of reaffirmed our simpatico aspects to the artistic endeavor.

[Alex Winter]

Yeah. And what's been fun for me, and I wouldn't say surprising, but I am grateful for it, is that, you know, it's a challenging play and you're never done doing it. Every day you do it is different and challenging for all of us, for Brandon Durden, Michael Patrick Thornton, who are amazing for all of us. And because Keanu and I have known each other so long and know each other so well and have worked together performatively as well as have a friendship, it's helpful because we'll come off stage sometimes and have an idea and like, we're just constantly, always thinking, but we're thinking in somewhat of a unified way. Not all the time. Sometimes it's something I need to do or he needs to do or whatever, but I know that I trust him and vice versa. And our brains are always kind of thinking on how to make those things work. And that is very much an informed by the length of, of the, and the history of, of the relationship.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's talk about the set. Sweetra Gilmore. Some people have said it looks like a cone. Like a.

[Keanu Reeves]

Okay, wait, I'm gonna do, I'm gonna do a kind of Waiting for Ghost production. Sound design while you describe the, however you're gonna describe. Okay, that I'll just kind of go ahead.

[Alison Stewart]

Sounds like a, Sounds like a woofer. Like a. Could be a I. It felt like the inside of a ear canal to me when you look at it. You actually go to our instagram @olive NYC. You'll see it. It's beautiful. First of all, how do you navigate a set like that? Because it looks like it's on a tilt.

[Keanu Reeves]

Yeah, it's a rig stage.

[Alex Winter]

Yeah.

[Keanu Reeves]

So we're exchanging perspective too. Right? There's some perspective shenanigans going on.

[Alison Stewart]

How do you. Seriously, how do you navigate that? Alex?

[Alex Winter]

A lot of. I mean, every minute I'm not on stage, I'm in some form of physical therapy.

[Alison Stewart]

You would have to be.

[Alex Winter]

Yeah. I mean, he's. Vladimir is an extremely physical role. They both are. All four of them are. And you know, we're never on a flat surface at any point ever. And I don't want to be. I mean.

[Keanu Reeves]

Oh, wait, wait, wait. There's a flat surface. The center of the stage is flat. I mean, it's angled, but it's.

[Alex Winter]

It's angled. That's what I mean. So my heels are actually kicked up. I went through this.

[Keanu Reeves]

Yes, that's true.

[Alex Winter]

Yeah.

[Keanu Reeves]

Okay.

[Alex Winter]

When we're sitting is actually when we get rest, when we're sitting at the top of Act 1 and Act 2 speak.

[Keanu Reeves]

We are self. Yeah.

[Alex Winter]

So it's very. It's quite physical. So. And I like the physicality. I want. I don't want to shy away from it. I like that these characters are almost feral because you don't know how they're living rough. And you realize once they get up in that tunnel with. With Pozzo and Lucky in act one, there's kind of a primal aspect to these guys because they've been living this way for so long. So it's nice to use all of the set and to use it almost like a. Like a. Some kind of primate. But your body has to be tuned to do that.

[Alison Stewart]

Your director, Jamie Lloyd, he's known for Sunset Boulevard, A Doll's House, which was amazing on Broadway. But he takes sort of his modernity and he applies it to the classics. Keanu, what do you think is this. Well, is different about the play in.

[Keanu Reeves]

Jamie Lloyd's hands, text wise. Alex, correct me if I'm wrong, but we've oftentimes, even in the description, there's a lot of. In parentheses, silence.

[Alison Stewart]

So true.

[Keanu Reeves]

Pauses. And Jamie really was promoting the idea of pace and speed with. With some silence, punctuation, following text. But really, I would say if you looked at it from that point of view, that would be the major change. It's just the pace of the production.

[Alex Winter]

Yeah. I think Jamie is one of the reasons we were so enamored with him, was, you know, a lot of his work is so rich and deep with Shakespeare, with Pinter, you know, whether it's modern, ultra modern play. You know, he did Lucy Prebles play recently in the UK and here, I guess, and it's. He has a deep affinity for tech. So he's not just Mr. Modern Guy, right. He's not just throwing stuff out for the sake of it. And we knew that he would really dig into the meanings and themes in Beckett, but embrace. He has a statement, so I'm not throwing him under any bus. He said this publicly, that, that he wanted to embrace directing this version of the play as if it was new, right? As if there didn't. All the stuff hadn't come before and someone just handed him a script and said, do you want to do this? And he said, yes. How would I stage it? And I think that's the right way to come at the play. And I think that it cements it to the times of being. I mean, the Beckett estate has been approving of his changes, which are radical, and they're quite. There's quite strict. So they have felt that Jamie's got a good grip on. On the text. So it's been really liberating to work with him. I. I mean, he's fun. He is really. He's truly phenomenal.

[Alison Stewart]

Oh, my gosh. The Doll's House. When the whole back of the theater opened and Jessica Chastain walked out, it was amazing.

[Alex Winter]

Yeah, I got to see that. And Michael Patrick Thornton was in that, who was our lucky. Who was amazing.

[Alison Stewart]

The last time I talked to two actors about Waiting for Godot was in 2023, when Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks did it, and they're friends as well, and they described the characters as Tigger and Eeyore was the way that they described their characters. Alex, how would you describe your character?

[Alex Winter]

I mean, Vladimir is. Is. Is, you know, not to be precious, but he's multitudinous. He's. He's searching. He's. He is very close to giving up faith, but he is still holding on to a shred of faith and the possibility of there being some form of salvation, spiritual or otherwise. And that drives everything with him. His physicality, his energy, his, you know, his love of estragon, his fear of losing estragon. To me, that's. That's kind of Vladimir's world.

[Alison Stewart]

How about for you?

[Alex Winter]

He's obviously more, you know, he's on his feet more than estragon. But. But I Think a lot of that energy is driven by the. The searching.

[Alison Stewart]

How about for you, Keanu?

[Keanu Reeves]

Yeah. When I've been doing it, I felt like. I mean, I get the Tigger aspect of it. For me, that if I had to go from there was just that there is an energy that the character Estragon has. He's always kind of, you know, what do we do? Let's go. You know, I think he's less of a philosopher. I think maybe there's a kind of natural. Like, he just wants to be happy. He wants to wander in the Pyrenees. He's concerned about being punished or saved, but he's. He's not. He doesn't have the. The quest. The search for faith quite. That I think Vladimir has in the same way. Would you agree with that, Alex? I would say that. And these two forces, I think are. Are working with, together, apart. I think there's a tension between these two kind of world points of view of being.

[Alex Winter]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Keanu Reeves]

Like, stop. Like, let's just go. And you're like, no, wait, let's figure out where we're going and why we're doing it and what does it mean? And I'm like, let's just go, man. That is true. Yeah.

[Alex Winter]

There's a lot of temperamental differences in. In between the two of them.

[Alison Stewart]

For some people, this may be their first exposure to Beckett. After they see the show, Alex, they go out for coffee, they go out for a beer. What do you hope they talk about?

[Alex Winter]

You know, we've been hearing such wonderful things about the audience experience from everyone from Beckett. We got a note from Jim Nolson, Beckett's biographer of a. Of an actress who had done Beckett for years and was just really taken with the play. And then people who have never seen Beckett before, ever. And I think that. That. I mean, honestly, I credit that to Beckett himself, just because the text is. Is so profound.

[Alison Stewart]

But you're good in it too.

[Alex Winter]

Okay, thank you. Thank you. But I do think that there is a modernity and a momentum and a. And a tenderness to this production that is accessible for some people that didn't find the play accessible before, which makes me very happy. And when people are coming back over and over again, we're getting people who have seen it four or five times. And the lobby, from what I hear from my moles, is a combination of questioning every single thing about life to. I have no idea what the hell is going on. Which is good. That's a good thing. I think that it is inspiring questions and people. And people often ask us in interviews or whatever, like, what is the takeaway about, you know, what do you say? The one thing I'm like, there is no single. I mean, that's, that's what makes it a great work of art, is it is so brilliantly interrogating so many core ideas of humanity. There's specific ideas, it's not the whole ocean, but it's not leaving you with a hard answer.

[Alison Stewart]

Waiting for Gado is at the Hudson Theater through January 4th. My guests have been Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today.

[Keanu Reeves]

Thank you.

[Alex Winter]

Thank you so much.

[WNYC Announcer]

NYC now delivers the most up to date local news from WNYC in Gothamist every morning, midday and evening with three updates a day. Listeners get breaking news, top headlines and in depth coverage from across New York City by sponsoring programming like NYC Now. You'll reach our community of dedicated listeners with premium messaging and an uncluttered audio experience. Visit sponsorship.wnyc.org to get in touch and find out more.