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Keanu Reeves knows that Lance Reddick was an integral part of John Wick‘s success as an action franchise, and he made sure to tell the late actor while he was still here to hear it.

Over the weekend, Reeves was at the 51st Saturn Awards –– an annual ceremony honoring the best in genre cinema for the year –– not just to pay tribute to his late co-star and friend, but to accept the first-ever Lance Reddick Legacy Award. The night naturally offered plenty of opportunities to share love for Reddick, who died suddenly last year at the age of 63, but in an interview with People, Reeves shared a very specific kind of tribute that he offered Reddick while he was still alive.

How Keanu Reeves Honored John Wick Costar Lance Reddick Before His Death

“I once told him… Well, actually I wrote him a letter and I said, ‘people love John Wick because Charon loves John Wick,'” Reeves said of Reddick’s John Wick character and performance. “Because that character loved John Wick, that made John Wick okay. And so when I got to act with him, we had such an affection.”

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Reeves continued, “The characters had such an affection, and offscreen, we had such an affection and just really enjoying working on the John Wick films, our characters, getting to work with [director] Chad [Stahelski] and on that series. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime project. I think he knew that, I knew it, and we just loved working together on it.”

Reddick and Reeves worked together on all four John Wick films, in which Reddick played the patient, dryly funny concierge of the Continental hotel, Charon, an important ally to Wick throughout his many battles. Across those films, Charon became a fan-favorite character, and a key reason why was, of course, his particular bond with Wick. It’s a bond that, according to Reeves, grew in real life just as it was growing onscreen.

“He had such a passion and a fire for creativity, and for his craft, and for art. I had the chance to work with him on four films over the course of eight years, and over that time, we got to know each other better,” he said.

Want more John Wick? Stream The Continental: From the World of John Wick on Peacock now.