When American comedy duo Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key came up with a name for the kitten starring in their new film Keanu, they made sure the more famous owner of that name couldn't sue them. "It turns out Keanu Reeves doesn't own the name Keanu," Peele says with a grin, "and we felt because not everybody knows who Key and Peele are that we would pick a mascot to make this movie about something bigger than us – and it helped knowing our Keanu was cuter than the other one!"

It's unlikely the pair will continue to remain under the radar much longer, thanks to their five seasons on the Comedy Central sketch show Key & Peele that turned them into a viral sensation, racking up more than a billion views on YouTube and leading to their biggest fan, President Obama, inviting Key to appear with him at the 2015 White House Correspondent's Dinner as "Luther", his anger translator.

In the film, Rell (Peele) is an introverted stoner artist and Clarence (Key) is his naive, all-too-eager cousin. When Rell's kitten, Keanu, is cat-napped, the strait-laced pair must impersonate ruthless killers in order to infiltrate a street gang and retrieve the purloined feline. But the incredibly adorable kitten becomes so coveted that the fight over his custody creates a gang war, forcing the reluctant heroes to take the law into their own hands.

In another nod to their comedy chops, the duo not only earned Keanu Reeves' approval, but also his voice in a scene where Rell is tripping on drugs and thinks the kitten is talking to him. "He was a really good sport," Peele nods gratefully. "His sister had sent him the trailer when it came out and he loved it, so he took time out while shooting a film in Budapest to record the voice for our director."

The pair first teamed up on MADtv's sketch show in 2004 and their chemistry was instant. They left after five seasons, and co-starred as FBI agents in the first season of Fargo, while Key has also featured in the final season of Parks and Recreation as well as supporting roles in the films Let's Be Cops and Pitch Perfect 2.

Sitting together in a plush Beverly Hills hotel, the biracial comedy team, both 37, acknowledge the idea for the film was initially a tough sell. "When we would tell people we were working on a movie about us and a kitten and that the kitten gets stolen by a gang, their response was usually, 'that sounds ridiculous!' " Peele admits as he smiles over at the movie poster featuring a cute kitten in gang attire. "But Keanu is actually there to make sense of why our characters would put themselves in harm's way: because people have such strong feelings for their pets, you understand why they'd do anything to get him back."

Not surprisingly, acting alongside the fussy felines – played by seven tiny brown tabbies at various points in filming – was not always easy. "There's one point where I have to tell the cat to scratch the picture of my ex-girlfriend, but then you have to make the kitten do what you want instead of fidgeting or looking for somewhere to pee," admits Peele, who also co-wrote and co-produced the film.

He looks sheepish when asked if it's true he's allergic to cats. "I've just been finding out that I am," Peele nods. "I didn't have any problems throughout the entire filming, but in the press leading up to the release we've met so many cats and been to so many places where they'll tell us to hold a cat for a photo or interview, and suddenly my allergies have been acting up."

"It could be journalists," Key suggests playfully, "but there's no cure for that!"