In John Wick: Chapter 2, Keanu Reeves’ assassin faces a whole new group of enemies that once again force him out of retirement.

But his greatest opponent is Ares, a female assassin played by Ruby Rose. The Australian might be Reeves’ enemy on screen, but off screen she has nothing but praise for the franchise’s star, whose laid back attitude set the tone for life on set.

Ruby RoseRuby Rose plays assassin Ares in John Wick: Chapter 2

 “When a franchise is based around one single person, that actor, they set the tone for the entire production,” Rose said. “So the more laid back they are the more laid back everybody tends to be, or the more highly strung then everybody tends to kind of follow suit.

“So to be in a film with someone who’s so low-key and easy and chill. I got here and thought, ‘everyone’s really relaxed this is great’ and then when I realised he was also working these amazing hours and he’s non-stop, he’s never complaining, he’ll never show you that he’s tired. His work ethic is second to none.”

Rose’s character is very much an equal to Wick and the two spend their time trying to outsmart each other. “The whole idea is that if he’s a 007, I’m a 007,” Rose explained.

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“We’re on par with each other as far as our skills go and our fighting techniques so I’m always supposed to be a step ahead of him then he’s ahead of me. So there’s real competition there. I’m a real liability to John Wick’s life.”

However like any good bad guy, Ares prefers to let others take the fall. “When it comes to my team and we go through these different motions, I always send them off to the doghouse,” Rose said.

“I’ll always go ‘there could be somebody around this corner, you two go’ and they're like ‘okay’ and then they get shot and I’m like ‘great John Wick’s there’. So I kind of throw a lot of people under the bus,” she added. "But I guess that’s what a good assassin does.”

John Wick: Chapter 2 hits US theatres on February 10.

Watch the trailer for John Wick: Chapter 2