One of the surprising reprises in John Wick: Chapter 4 is the reincarnated Bowery King, played by Laurence Fishburne, one-third of The Matrix trio behind the Wick franchise. Known for numerous roles, including Boyz n the Hood and Apocalypse Now, Fishburne’s character in John Wick is a proud and devout ally to Keanu Reeves’ titular legendary assassin, and it's his devotion that got him excommunicated in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. In an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Fishburne discusses the Bowery King’s triumphant return, as well as the preparation it takes to pull of these films.

Much like the Bowery King, in Chapter 4, John Wick is presumed dead. With the help of his other friends, the reinstated Continental manager, Winston (Ian McShane) and the deadly concierge, Charon (Lance Reddick), the Baba Yaga may be able to use this to his advantage. Still in search of freedom from this underworld, Wick will have to fight the best of the best across nations to get to the High Table’s cutthroat Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård). Through triumph or death is John Wick’s only way out.

Before John Wick: Chapter 4 hits theaters on March 24, Fishburne tells us what it’s like between action and cut, wrangling hundreds of extras for director Chad Stahelski’s ambitious action sequences, and shares which of those scenes to look out for in the movie. One of the next features we’ll see him in reunites Fishburne with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola in his long-awaited Megalopolis, a project that’s been in the talks for years, and Fishburne teases a bit about who he plays alongside Adam Driver in the film. You can watch the interview in the player above, or read the full conversation below.

COLLIDER: How are you doing today?

LAURENCE FISHBURNE: Good man, good to see you.

As you've probably heard me say a million times, I love this franchise.

FISHBURNE: Yeah, yeah, it's great.

Love, I want to stress that. So I just have to ask, you've done so many roles, and you've had such a great career. What does it mean to you to be part of the John Wick franchise?

FISHBURNE: It's beautiful to be a part of this. I mean, with this one in particular, the Bowery King gets to set the table for the audience and it's like, “I'm gonna take you on a ride and it's gonna be the ride of your life.” So I'm grateful that I actually got to be in this one.

One of the things about this movie, which I don't think the average person is gonna realize, is there's an action set piece in Berlin where Keanu is fighting with tons of extras in the scene. Can you explain to people why most movies don't have like 100 extras behind them in a huge fight sequence because it's crazy?

FISHBURNE: It's logistically almost impossible to sort of control that kind of a situation where you have hundreds of background artists, and then your central character moving in and around all of that. It requires a lot of patience to move all of those pieces in an orderly fashion without people getting hurt. It's hard.

What do you think would surprise fans of the John Wick franchise to learn about the actual making of the films when you're on set?

FISHBURNE: The thing that I always forget when I haven't done a movie in a while, that I'm suddenly reminded of when you walk on a set, is just how painstakingly tedious it is to get everything ready just before you roll the camera. It takes days, weeks, months for everything to actually be where it should be, and for everything to be working for a director to say “action.” And then what happens between “action” and “cut,” it seems like it's magic, it's not. Some of its magic, but a lot of it is preparation.

The movies have, to me, some of the best action scenes of the last few years. Do you have one of them that you still can't believe was in these films? Do you have a favorite?

FISHBURNE: Oh, [there are] two sequences in this particular chapter of Wick that are unbelievable. So everything that happens in Paris is completely off the chain, and all of Keanu’s judo in this movie is totally next level.

I completely agree. Early in your career, you worked with someone named Francis Ford Coppola, and I believe you've worked with him again recently on his mega project.

FISHBURNE: Just finished.

Yeah, Adam Driver said he wrapped two nights ago. I'm curious, what can you tease about your role? I'm so looking forward to this movie and I'm just curious about what you can say, what it's been like making it.

FISHBURNE: It's been a joy to work with Francis again. It's been a privilege to work with him again. I wouldn't have the kind of career that I have without Francis Coppola. He's been talking about this movie since I was a child and I was like, “Yes, sir, I'll be there. What do you need?” And so I went, and the character I play is sort of a confidante to Adam Driver as a character called Caesar.

I won't pressure you anymore except to say I really cannot wait to see this. I'm so happy he made it, and he's paying for it himself.

FISHBURNE: Exactly. He's making history.

John Wick: Chapter 4 hits theaters March 24. For more on how they pulled off that Berlin club scene, check out our interview with Keanu Reeves below.