Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves (born
September 2,
1964 in
Beirut,
Lebanon) is a
Canadian actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as
Neo in the action film trilogy
The Matrix and also for roles in
Speed and comedies such as
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. He was also a member of a grunge band,
Dogstar, during the 1990s, as a bassist.
Early life
Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon to Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr., an
American geologist, and Patricia Taylor, an
English showgirl and costume designer who was working in Beirut when she met Reeves' father at a local nightclub.
His paternal grandfather, Samuel Nowlin Reeves, was born in
Hawaii to Charles Armistead Reeves, a
Tennessee-born
Irish American, and Rose Lokalia Miguel, who was of
Portuguese and Hawaiian descent. His paternal grandmother, Sarah M. Victor, was of part
Chinese descent. Reeves was named after his uncle Henry Keanu Reeves. The name originated with Reeves' great-great-uncle Keaweaheulu, whose name means "cool breeze over the
mountains" in
Hawaiian. When Reeves first arrived in Hollywood, his agent thought his first name was too exotic, so during the early days of his film career he is sometimes credited as K.C. Reeves, Norman Kreeves or Chuck Spadina (an avenue in
Toronto).
|
Kim Reeves & Keanu Reeves |
Reeves has a sister, Kim (born 1966 in Beirut, Lebanon), a half-sister named Karina Miller (born 1976 in
Toronto, Canada) and another half-sister named Emma Rose Reeves (born 1980 in Hawaii). Kim Reeves is a devoted horse breeder, as well as an actress.[
1] She has battled
leukemia in recent years and is reportedly not in good health. She presently lives in Anacapri, in the north of the island of
Capri, in a home her brother gave to her.
His parents divorced in 1966, and his mother moved to New York City with Reeves and his sister in 1969, where she met, and subsequently married, Paul Aaron, a
Broadway and Hollywood director. The couple, who divorced in 1971, then moved to
Toronto, Canada, where Reeves grew up.
Reeves' mother was later married to Robert Miller (between 1976 and 1980) and he has a half-sister, Karina Miller. Reeves grew up in
Toronto, and worked at a pasta shop, sharpened skates at an ice rink, and was voted
MVP on his high school ice hockey team (De La Salle College). Within a span of five years, Reeves attended four different high schools, including a performing arts school from which he was
expelled. Reeves began his acting career at the age of 15, appearing in a stage production at a local
Jewish community center. After leaving the Catholic boys' high school where he played hockey, he attended a
free school which allowed him to obtain an education while working as an actor; he later dropped out, never obtaining his high school diploma.
Citizenship
Keanu Reeves is eligible for
U.S. citizenship through his American father.[
2] and
British citizenship through his English mother.[
3] While living in Canada, Reeves became a
naturalized Canadian citizen.[
4]
Britain and Canada accept the concept of
multiple citizenships, so he is eligible to hold both contemporaneously, but he does not. Reeves considers himself a Canadian; Canada being the country where he grew up, went to school, and got his start in
show business. Although Keanu Reeves was born in
Lebanon, he is not a Lebanese citizen because his parents were only temporary residents of Lebanon and were not themselves of Lebanese descent (cf.
jus soli and
jus sanguinis).
Career
Reeves made his screen acting debut in Canada, in a
1979 CBC production,
Hanging In. Throughout the early 1980s, he appeared in commercials (including one for
Coca-Cola), short films and stage work in Toronto. His first studio movie appearance was in the
Rob Lowe hockey flick
Youngblood which was filmed in Canada. In it he played a Hockey goalie. Shortly after the movie release Reeves obtained a green card and drove from Toronto to Los Angeles in his 1969
Volvo. His ex-stepfather Paul Aaron, a stage and television director, gave him a place to stay and got him a manager, Erwin Stoff, and agent before he even arrived in
Los Angeles.
After a few minor roles gained the notice of the critics in
1986's
River's Edge, a teenage drama which received positive reviews. Following the film's success, he spent the late 1980s appearing in a number of movies aimed at teenage audiences, including
Permanent Record, a dark film about teenage suicide, and the successful
1989 comedy,
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, which typecast Reeves somewhat during the next few years, as much of his subsequent portrayal in the press has been influenced by his portrayal of the comically airheaded character, "Ted". Reeves was originally offered the role of Pvt. Chris Taylor in
Platoon (1986) but turned it down as he disliked the violence involved and the role went to
Charlie Sheen.
During the early 1990s, Reeves appeared in both high-budget action films like
Point Break and lower-budget
independent films, including the well-received
1991 film,
My Own Private Idaho, and the critically-hated
1994 film,
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. In 1994, Reeves also starred in the action film
Speed, which was a commercial success and raised his profile, leading to his casting in films like
Johnny Mnemonic and
Chain Reaction, both of which failed at the box office.
Hitting a low in his career, Reeves then did the unthinkable and turned down the role of Jack Traven in the
Speed sequel. He was reportedly offered $11 million dollars for the sequel but opted instead to star in the horror/drama
The Devil's Advocate with
Al Pacino and
Charlize Theron. Reeves deferred his salary for
The Devil's Advocate so Al Pacino would be cast, and did the same for
The Replacements, guaranteeing the casting of
Gene Hackman. In 1995 Reeves performed the title role in a
Manitoba Theatre Centre production of
Hamlet in
Winnipeg, Manitoba.
His
1999 science fiction hit,
The Matrix, re-established him as a
Hollywood leading man after a few years of films that received only moderate box office success and mixed critical reception.
In between the first
Matrix film and its sequels, Reeves appeared in several films that received mostly negative reviews and average box office grosses, including
The Watcher,
Sweet November and
Hardball. However, the two "Matrix" sequels,
The Matrix Reloaded and
The Matrix Revolutions, as well as his
2005 horror-action film,
Constantine, proved to be box office successes, and brought Reeves back into the public spotlight.
On
January 31,
2005, Reeves received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Reeves accompanied
Sandra Bullock to the
2006 Academy Awards, which caused some controversy as Bullock is married to bike builder
Jesse James. It was later revealed to be a publicity stunt to coincide with Bullock and Reeves having a movie rolling out that same year.
His film
A Scanner Darkly was released on July 7, 2006, shortly after the June 2006 release of
The Lake House in which he played a starring role.
Private life
In December 1999, Reeves' girlfriend,
Jennifer Syme, gave birth to a
stillborn daughter who was named Ava Archer Syme Reeves. In April 2001, Syme was killed in a
car accident. She was buried next to their daughter in the
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in
Los Angeles, California.
Reeves has never reconnected with his estranged biological father (see [
5]), who served time in prison; he was paroled after serving two years of a 10-year sentence for selling
heroin at Hilo Airport in 1992.
Reeves enjoys riding motorcycles and coined the term "demon ride" to describe how he often rides with no headlights at night. On one of his demon rides in 1988, he crashed near Topanga Canyon and broke several ribs and
ruptured his spleen; he has had an abdominal scar ever since – when the paramedics arrived, an emergency medical technician trainee dropped one end of the stretcher by mistake.
For nearly a decade following his initial rise to stardom, Reeves lived a
vagabond existence in hotels, opting not to buy a house or find a permanent place of residence, despite earning millions. Reeves has lived in the
Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles since 2003, but also has an apartment in
New York City. He does not formally practice any religion, although he has a
Christian background and is interested in
Buddhism.
Reeves is fond of
chess,
motorcycles,
ice hockey, and
table tennis. He is
left-handed, but plays the
bass guitar right-handed and loves
punk rock bands such as
The Ramones,
The Sex Pistols, and
The Clash, as well as legendary
R&B singers such as
Stevie Wonder and
Otis Redding. In a 1992
New Year's Eve party show, Reeves filled in on bass for
punk rock band
The Vandals while bassist
Joe Escalante was at a wedding. He began playing the bass with the
rock band
Dogstar, which has now gone "into hibernation." Reeves also had a part in New York thrash metal band
Anthrax's "Safe Home" music video. More recently, he played bass in a band called
Becky with former Dogstar drummer Rob Mailhouse, guitarist Paulie Kosta and singer
Rebecca Lord. In early 2005, he announced that he is leaving the band and his musical career for good.
Reeves is reported to be very generous with his time and money, lending both to a variety of causes. He took a significant amount of the profits from his
Matrix series and treated the twelve stuntmen who worked on the films to
motorcycles, among other things.
His sexual orientation is matter of dispute - bisexual or heterosexual - according to some interviews he has given. Keanu Reeves had always been subjected to the rumors of being homosexual or bisexual - one time the
yellow press even married him to an actor he barely knew -, but has always kept a very tight lid on his romantic and private lives. He has denied being homosexual, but he refuses to answer if he is bisexual or heterosexual.
[Brian J. Robb (1997). Keanu Reeves: An Excellent Adventure. Plexus Publishing (UK). ISBN 0859652459.] In June 2006, he said that he would like to get married and to have children [
6].
He has a tendency to re-team with actresses after a number of years:
*
Charlize Theron in
The Devil's Advocate and
Sweet November*
Uma Thurman in
Dangerous Liaisons and
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues*
Winona Ryder in
Bram Stoker's Dracula and
A Scanner Darkly*
Sandra Bullock in
Speed and
The Lake House*
Rachel Weisz in
Chain Reaction and
Constantine*
Monica Bellucci in
Bram Stoker's Dracula,
The Matrix Reloaded and
The Matrix Revolutions* He has given a gift of several million dollars of his back-end deal for
The Matrix and its sequels to a group of 29 technical personnel such as special-effects and costume-design workers for their work.[
7]
* Reeves supported the Wachowski brothers with $38 million to cover the expenses for the special effects in
The Matrix so that the movie could be finished.[
8]
* After filming
The Matrix Reloaded Reeves had a dozen Harleys delivered to the set as a gift for his stunt men. [
9]
* He was named one of
People magazine "The 50 Most Beautiful People of the World" in 1995.
* According to a
ETonline survey in 2006 he is in "Top Ten of America's Favorite Stars".
*
* Fleming, Michael.
Playboy Interview: Keanu Reeves,
Playboy Magazine. pp. 49-52, 140-141. (April 2006)
*
"Pondering the mysterious Keanu Reeves",
CNN / Associated Press. (
November 5 2003)
* Makela, Bob.
"Keanu Reeves: All the right moves",
USA Weekend. (
August 5 2000)
*
Collection of interviews, 1987-2006
