Keanu Reeves' excellent adventure in movies has taken many an interesting turn, from his stoner Bill And Ted comedies to the Shakespearean overtones of My Own Private Idaho. Not unfamiliar with the odd bad review, the 40-year-old star has enjoyed his greatest box office successes with Speed and The Matrix films, and played against type in The Gift and Something's Gotta Give. In Constantine he plays a world weary freelance exorcist, destined for Hell and determined to take as many demonic souls with him as possible.

Were you concerned that Constantine might be too similar to the Matrix series?

I don't feel Constantine is a special effects kind of film. It's definitely mythological, and I think it's in the classic tradition of the hero's journey. I like those stories. But I didn't feel like I was repeating myself with this character. I think that they're completely different films - although the hero in each is similar. Constantine is interesting because he is really self interested, the way he's dealing with the world, the guy's trapped.

But there are some scenes with some special effects - having done The Matrix do you know what to expect?

What's good is the experience that I had in terms of the physical action means that I can do it quicker. You find out what the deal is and you do it.

When you started out as an actor did you ever think you'd be a star of action films like these?

That really happened for me on Point Break, which Kathryn Bigelow directed. That was really my first foray into 'action movies'. Then I guess I went from there into Speed. But I always think of those roles as character roles. And the films that they were in I think looked at it that way too. There was kind of a transition from the arch superhero or hero guy to a more humanistic, everyman kind of a hero. And that's what I ended up playing.

Your version of Constantine is quite different from the character in the original comicbook, isn't he?

Constantine in his comicbook form is English and blond. I'm not. When I came to the project I didn't know the comicbook and the script had already been changed. But it's not like when we make the script we're taking away the comicbook version of Constantine. Hopefully what we do take from the comicbook is the spirit of Constantine, because that's the strength of the piece. This guy, this story, the way he deals with the world, he's so lovably awful. He's a rascal, but he's trying.

How did you ensure that the fans of the comicbook would approve of your efforts?

When I was working I would always ask myself 'is there enough Constantine in my Constantine?'. In other words, is it hard boiled enough? I think when my character puts his cigarette out in a pool of his own blood, I thought we had some Constantine there. Hopefully people who are possessive about the character will be entertained by this version of it. I think we captured the spirit of it, and that was important.

Constantine is released in UK cinemas on Friday 18th March 2005.