Alex Winter on Keanu Reeves, Bill & Ted 4 and the power of art
In a Guardian interview, the actor and director reflects on Michael Winner, his creative partnership with Keanu Reeves and the risks of an AI industry driven by profit.
Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves may yet return as Bill and Ted. Speaking to The Guardian, Winter said the pair would love to make a fourth film, though “the stars have to align” across several areas. He also made clear that he hopes the characters will not be rebooted or recast, arguing that he and Reeves defined them from the beginning.
The partnership extends beyond the franchise. Winter and Reeves have performed together in Waiting for Godot, while Winter directed Reeves in Freaked. He recalled that they spent downtime during the first Bill & Ted making music together, bonded by their shared experience as bass players and theatre performers.
Winter’s first film was Michael Winner’s Death Wish 3, made when he was 19. Recalling the London production, he described Winner as “the most erudite sociopath I’ve ever met” — a personal assessment he presented as a compliment — and remembered spending evenings drinking in Brixton.
The director has since made documentaries about subjects including Napster, the dark web, blockchain, YouTube and Frank Zappa, as well as working on live-action Ben 10 productions. He said his Zappa documentary was less an expression of fandom than an exploration of artistic and American culture.
His sharpest concerns were reserved for artificial intelligence. Winter called the rapid, profit-driven expansion of the sector frightening and warned of what he described as a technology oligarchy influencing business, politics and civic culture.
Still, his outlook is not nihilistic. Winter said good art can help humanity and expressed curiosity about whether society will eventually pull itself out of the climate crisis.
