The Real Reason Michelle Monaghan Was Cut From Keanu Reeves' Constantine

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Despite not being a big hit in its day, 2005's "Constantine" has found a great deal of love in the 20 years since its original release. Starring Keanu Reeves as DC's John Constantine, the movie was directed by Francis Lawrence, of "The Hunger Games" fame, doing the R-rated comic book movie thing on a large scale years before "Deadpool" proved that sort of thing could be commercially viable on a blockbuster level. It featured an impressive cast including Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, and Tilda Swinton. Another big star, Michelle Monaghan, was technically in the film but unfortunately saw her scenes wind up on the cutting room floor.

Monaghan, who viewers will know from her work in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise and "The White Lotus," among other things, played Ellie, a half-demon love interest for Reeves' titular anti-hero, who had several scenes in the film. So, why didn't those scenes make it into "Constantine?" According to writer Akiva Goldsman, it all came down to the story. Speaking in 2020 during the 15th anniversary Comic-Con@Home panel, Goldsman addressed Monaghan's cut scenes, saying the following:

"We had real story reasons for doing it. It was not her performance, she's a fantastic actress and we really liked the work that she did. We just decided that Constantine was better alone, and feeling like he didn't have a companion that he could, sort of, lean on and have a relationship with."

As Goldsman tells it, Monaghan's character ultimately didn't suit the story they were trying to tell. This sort of thing happens all of the time, for what it's worth. Tim Roth was cut from Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, despite being a regular in the filmmaker's movies. It's just the nature of the beast as it exists.

This is also far from the first time the situation has been addressed over the years. Lawrence, speaking to About.com in 2005, echoed Goldsman's sentiments, while adding a bit more context:

"Michelle was fantastic and one of her scenes — one of the scenes we had to cut — was one of my favorite scenes we shot in this movie. We cut because it took away from Constantine's loneliness. We have two characters who are very lonely and there's a sort of feeling of abandonment in this movie that's very important. It helps connect the two main characters — Rachel and Keanu."

"If he has a scene, which the first scene with her is, it's post-sex," Lawrence added. "He's sitting on the edge of the bed. He's obviously just slept with her. She's very attractive, demon or not. You're just not that lonely of a guy if you can go and hook up with girls like this."

Things did work out in the end, and Monaghan doesn't seem to have any hard feelings about it, looking back. The actress explained in a 2019 interview with Collider that her role in "Constantine," even though it was cut from the final product, helped her land a key role alongside Tom Cruise in director J.J. Abrams' "Mission: Impossible III."

"The audition that I had for 'Constantine' was a really good audition, and that tape made it into the hands of J.J. Abrams and as a result of that, that got me the role in [Mission: Impossible III]."

Meanwhile, "Constantine" has enjoyed a healthy life well beyond its original theatrical release. So much so that Lawrence and Reeves are working with Warner Bros. to make "Constantine 2" happen. It's just a matter of trying to make it fit in somehow with the new DC Universe.

You can grab "Constantine" on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD from Amazon.