John Wick star Lance Reddick tragically passed away at his Studio City home in California on Friday, March 17, 2023. He was 60 years old at the time of his passing. News of his death was confirmed by his publicist Mia Hansen:
“Lance will be greatly missed. Please respect his family’s privacy at this time.”
In the wake of his demise, a clip of Reddick’s iconic 2013 interview with Adult Swim’s Eric Andre went viral online.
The video shows Andre asking Reddick to “get p**** off and walk away,” prompting the latter to slam his fist on the host’s table and walk off the set after saying, “get a new desk.”
The moment from The Eric Andre Show became highly popular as Reddick was one of the very few stars who were able to leave Andre genuinely scared on the show.
The comedy spoof also featured Reddick appearing as LeVar Burton’s iconic Roots character Kunta Kinte while also wearing VISOR eyeglasses from Burton’s Geordi La Forge in the Star Trek franchise.
Following Lance Reddick’s death, several fans remembered his Eric Andre interview and even dubbed the spoof as “his best performance” while praising the actor’s range.
Reddick is best remembered for playing the role of Baltimore Police Department’s Lieutenant Cedric Daniels in the HBO TV show The Wire and hotel concierge Charon in the John Wick franchise. He was also known for portraying Johnny Basil in Oz, Phillip Broyles in Fringe, Matthew Abaddon in Lost, Irvin Irving in Bosch and Albert Wesker in the live-action Netflix series Resident Evil.
A closer look into Lance Reddick’s Eric Andre interview
Back in 2013, Lance Reddick appeared on an episode of The Eric Andre Show to talk about his HBO show The Wire as well as his ABC drama Lost.
Following the interview, Reddick made news for leaving host Eric Andre shocked and scared on his own show. Andre is otherwise known for offending and terrifying the guests on the show through his pranks.
Reddick opened the show by appearing unamused by Andre and his co-host Hannibal Buress’ antics before slamming Andre’s desk, asking him to get a new one and storming off the set.
The actor then returned to the show to perform in a comedy spoof and donned an appearance resembling LeVar Burton’s Roots character Kunta Kinte. He also wore Burton’s Star Trek character Geordi La Forge’s signature VISOR eyewear before yelling, “I wish I were LeVar Burton.”
Lance Reddick later shared the story behind the episode in an interview with Jim Norton and Sam Roberts of the Jim and Sam Show on SiriusXM. The actor shared that he had never heard of The Eric Andre Show before being invited and was left confused after checking it out online.
The Oz star then had a discussion with Andre on the phone and the latter gave Reddick control over the episode, which was considered rare as the host liked to shock his guests. Reddick shared:
“I get there that day and all that stuff goes out the window. So then he decides, ‘Oh, let’s try this.’ So that’s literally in the dressing room, like I don’t know, 15-20 minutes before I’m supposed to go out there he pitches me this LeVar Burton thing. And he hands me some stuff, he said, ‘Kinda say this stuff, but you can ad-lib too.’”
Lance Reddick then revealed that some “crazy stuff” did not make it to the actual show, while the slamming desk part was “spontaneous”:
“There was some crazy stuff that didn’t even get on. Like, for example, at one point he had an exercise video on a television screen playing and he wanted me to be sitting in the chair kinda trying to do the exercises with the video. And the getting angry thing, he said, ‘On the next take just get pissed off and walk away.’ And then — I mean, to slam the desk, that was just spontaneous.”
The John Wick star also said that he loved the spoof even though his background did not consist of sketch comedy:
“I mean, I am a bit of a clown, so I love that kind of stuff. I mean, my background is traditional theater, not sketch comedy. So I’m always a little nervous about being asked spontaneously to improvise. But generally if I just kind of say — can you say swear words here? Okay great. So if I just, part of me says f*** it and just kind of jump off, I’m fine.”
While Eric Andre decided on the initial idea and costumes, Lance Reddick himself decided on the comedic swearing-laced riff and the ad-libs, including the “don’t rainbow read me” phrase in the LeVar Burton spoof and the “you need a new table” moment.
Fans remember Lance Reddick’s iconic Eric Andre interview in the wake of actor’s demise
Lance Reddick’s fans were left extremely heartbroken after the actor suddenly passed away on Friday. In the wake of his death, many took to social media to remember his memorable roles over the years.
Others specifically remembered Reddick’s viral performance during the Eric Andre interview and shared clips from the 2013 episode.
Prior to his demise, Lance Reddick was in the middle of promoting the fourth installment of the John Wick franchise that is set to release on March 24.
Reports suggest that the actor was also scheduled to appear on the John Wick spinoff Ballerina and will have a posthumous appearance as the Greek god Zeus in the upcoming Disney+ adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.