Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter Say ‘Waiting for Godot’ Is a ‘Dream Come True’ (Exclusive)

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter had a truly excellent afternoon.

On Sunday, Sept. 28, the actors and longtime friends — who first worked together over 35 years ago in the 1989 sci-fi comedy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure — were by each another’s side again, this time for the opening of the new Broadway revival of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.

Photographers snapped the pair on the red carpet before their performance.

Speaking with PEOPLE, Reeves calls the experience of doing the show with Winter to be “amazing” and a “dream come true, more than I can ever dream of.”

“It’s been an amazing process,” he says. “To be having an opening on Broadway doing Waiting for Godot with [Alex] is [mind-blowing].”

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Reeves, 61, and Winter, 60, have been lifelong friends since meeting on Bill & Ted. In 1991 and 2020, they reprised their roles as Bill Preston (Winter) and Ted Logan (Reeves) for a second and third installment of the cult-classic series. 

Asked how they’ve changed over the years, Winter says, “I’m happy to say, not much.” Reeves, according to the Winter, is “maybe a little wiser, maybe a little bit more relaxed, and more sort of at ease with the world.”

“We were young and finding our way,” Winter shares, looking back on their friendship. “Those edges start to smooth out a little bit.”

This is the first time Reeves has been on Broadway. Winter hadn’t been on the boards in four decades. He made his debut in the 1977 revival of The King and I, and played John Darling in 1979’s Peter Pan.

Waiting for Godot, they told PEOPLE on the red carpet of the 2025 Tony Awards back in June, was the perfect project for them to collaborate on again.

According to Winter, Reeves plans to bring their off-stage friendship to the Godot stage. “We’ve known each other a very long time,” Winter said. “It’s a play about two people who have known each other a very long time, which actually matters, I think, to the play. And Keanu had this crazy, inspired idea that suddenly turned into reality, for both of us. … It became a show we had to do.”

“This is the step into the reality,” Reeves added. “It’s fantastic.”

Waiting for Godot is widely considered to be one of the best plays of all time, exploring the themes of uncertainty, hope and the human condition.

The story follows the two characters (Estragon, played by Reeves, and Vladimir, played by Winter) as they pass the time with conversation, encounters with strangers and moments of absurd humor and despair — all while they wait by a tree for someone named Godot, who never arrives.

Joining Reeves and Winter in the cast is Brandon J. Dirden (as Pozzo), Michael Patrick Thornton (as Lucky), Zaynn Arora (as Boy) and Eric Williams (as Boy). Jesse Aaronson and Franklin Bongjio are understudies.

The original French text was written in 1948-1949 before making its world premiere in Paris in 1953. An English-language version came to London in 1955 and toured the United States that same year.

Its first Broadway production came to the John Golden Theatre in 1956 starring Bert Lahr and E. G. Marshall. The following year, it was revived at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in a production led by Earle Hyman and Mantan Moreland.

Other revivals have come in 2009, with Bill Irwin and Nathan Lane, and in 2013, with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.

This production, directed by Tony Award winner Jamie Lloyd (Sunset Boulevard), is playing at the Hudson Theatre in New York City through Jan. 4, 2026. Stars who attended opening night included Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, Chris Pine, Kieran Culkin, Stephanie Hsu, Jenny Slate, Bowen Yang, JJ Abrams, Keegan-Michael Key and more.

Tickets for Waiting for Godot are now on sale.