MAZOMANIE, Wis. — Sometimes movies are based on real life, and one top action hero has a 96-year-old Mazomanie man to thank for his box office hit.
In Arena, just a short drive or bike ride from his home in Mazomanie, John Wick eats his main meal daily at Grandma Mary’s Diner.
“I am the real John Wick!” Wick said while laughing and enjoying his favorite baked cod supper. The unlikely local celebrity said he was proud of having one of the biggest blockbuster names in Hollywood.
Wick’s grandson, the acclaimed screenwriter Derek Kolstad, named the Keanu Reeves starring hero “John Wick” after his dear-old-granddad.
Wick said “grandma” wasn’t left out of the film either.
“The assassin in the movie, he had a wife and his wife was named Helen in the film, and my wife was Helen,” Wick said.
Wick lost the love of his life, his wife, Helen, six years back.
At 96, he said he can’t enjoy the films because he can’t hear well anymore, but that doesn’t stop him in good weather from doing his own stunts.
His favorite involved him attaching bungee cords to safely secure his feet in place to ride his battery-operated tricycle.
“It’s a lot of fun!” he said while he showed off his skills in his neighborhood.
Wick said he has never met Keanu Reeves in person or been out to Hollywood, but Reeves did wave at him and acknowledge him in a special photo with Derek Kolstad.
Wick also said while Kolstad served as key originator of the three first films, he was not part of the fourth installment.