“John Wick” might never have become a billion-dollar film franchise without the financial intervention of Eva Longoria, the original film’s directors revealed this week.

In an interview with Business Insider to mark the film’s 10th anniversary, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch – who co-directed the film, despite only Leitch receiving credit – said Keanu Reeves’ action flick was just days away from closing production due to a lack of financing.

“We weren’t even a week in and we lost almost $6 million in deficit financing,” Stahelski told the publication. “We had all put everything into it, including Keanu. And we still came up short. So we were shut down.”

In a last-ditch effort to save the production, CAA offered some of its actors the chance to finance the remaining $6 million with the promise that they would be the first to be paid back once the film was released in theaters.

Longoria reportedly took the opportunity to CAA, although Leitch and Stahelski were unaware of this at the time.

“She came to the rescue and provided funding for the deficit,” Stahelski said. “Literally less than 24 hours before we had to lock the doors of the movie and walk away, (our producer) said, ‘We’ve got the investor, we’ve closed the gap.’”

After the film’s box office success — it grossed $86 million on its estimated $20 million to $30 million budget — the directors took Longoria out to lunch in Los Angeles as a thank you.

Leitch said he ran into the actress last year at awards season events and the two reminisced about her financial intervention.

“She said, ‘Wow, that was the best money I ever spent,’” he said. “It paid her back significantly.”

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