CATE BLANCHETT gave KEANU REEVES permission to give her a no-holds- barred punch in their new film - for the sake of realism.

The brave actress had to get hit in the stomach during a fight scene in THE GIFT - and Blanchett was determined to pull off the stunt as well as possible. She says, "There's a scene where Keanu had to come up and punch me in the stomach, and it's terrifying to do because he's a big guy and he's coming towards you and you're thinking, 'I hope we've coordinated this stunt right so that I don't actually get hurt!'" "There was another time where he'd pull the punch because he didn't want to hurt me and I had to say, 'It's absolutely OK. I'll do my end and you do your end.'"

The ELIZABETH star was thrilled to see that she and co-star HILLARY SWANK enabled Reeves to be as evil as possible in the role. She adds, "I think it was really important for Keanu that both Hillary and I gave him permission to be as vile and as disgusting and as f***ed as he had to be. "I think once he was given permission he absolutely went for which was fantastic to see." (RXM/WN/CPT)

Source: WENN