Matt Smith reacted with disbelief in a recent interview when he learned that Keanu Reeves watched his film Morbius on a plane.

The British actor, known for Doctor Who and House Of The Dragon, appeared on Brittany Broski’s Royal Court podcast on Wednesday (July 1). During the chat, he expressed his admiration for the John Wick star.

“I love Keanu Reeves,” Smith gushed. “He’s like, you know, like you get like a man — mate. Keanu Reeves, what a movie star. And [he] just looks like an angel, you know what I mean? Like if you were to get a guardian angel in life, please God, let it be Keanu Reeves.”

When Broski brought up that Reeves had been spotted watching Morbius on a plane, Smith reacted: “Jesus Christ. My god. He must have really gone through the BA [British Airways] library to be get to that.” Broski joked that Reeves must have been “drunk,” to which Smith speculated that Reeves must have been “having a moment. He’s on the Valium or something.”

When asked what he watches on flights, the actor quipped “Not fucking Morbius,” before clarifying: “No, but what a legend. I love Keanu Reeves, I just want to make that really clear.”

Released in 2022 and starring Jared Leto, Morbius was based on the Marvel comic book character, a doctor whose search for a cure for his blood disease leads to him becoming a superpowered vampire. Smith played Lucien, the surrogate brother of Leto’s character who becomes the film’s villain.

The movie was a high-profile box office bomb, inspiring mocking memes which led to the studio re-releasing the movie, again to disappointing results. It has become a benchmark for low-performing superhero movies, with the recent release Supergirl’s disappointing opening being compared to the movie by commentators.

In a one-star review of the film, NME wrote: “If the plot sounds slight, that’s because it is. None of the characters have meaningful motives – and they’re so thinly drawn that they’re almost transparent. Astoundingly, for a film about a mad doctor who turns into a vampire, it’s also very boring. Horror fans attracted by the sinister promo campaign will be disappointed. You’ll see more claret in your local off-licence.

Smith and Leto’s co-star Jared Harris, who played Morbius’ mentor in the film, said in 2024 that he did the movie because he had “a mortgage to pay”, and that it flopped because the film was too serious. “I have observed that those types of films do well if you have a sense of humour,” he told The I. “You can’t treat it as though it’s Shakespeare.”

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