Keanu Charles Reeves, a Canadian actor known for his nobility in the Hollywood film industry, is a humble and down-to-earth actor who does not shy away from sharing his success with the co-actors and the crew of his movies. The gentle actor famously gave away most of his earnings from the blockbuster trilogy ‘The Matrix’ to the special effects and costume designer team of the movie because he felt that they were the real heroes of the movie. He also gave away the opportunity to earn millions just so his production team could afford ace actors for his movies like Al Pacino for ‘The Devil’s Advocate’ and Gene Hackman for ‘The Replacement’. Reeves had an emotionally instable childhood because his father left him and his mother when he was only 3 years old and his mother went on to marry three more times after that. He travelled along with his mother to Sydney, New York and Toronto before he decided to leave for LA for good to start his acting career at the age of 15. Reeves has given many blockbuster hits like: ‘The Matrix’. The Matrix Reloded’, ‘The Matrix Revolutions’, ‘The Devil’s Advocate’, ‘Speed’, ‘Constantine’, etc. He is a recluse and tries to stay away from the media and enjoys ballroom dancing and surfing more than anything. He has faced many tragedies in his life like the birth of his still born daughter ‘Ava’, death of his longtime girlfriend Jennifer Syme and the death of his dear friend and actor River Phoenix. Recently, Reeves made his directorial debut with the movie ‘Man of Tai Chi’ in 2013.
Keanu Reeves: Quick Facts
Also Known As: Keanu Charles Reeves
Family:
Father: Samuel Nowlin Reeves Jr.
Mother: Patricia Bond
Siblings: Emma Reeves, Karina Miller, Kim Reeves
Children: Ava Archer Syme-Reeves
Born Country: Lebanon
Height:6’1″ (185 cm)
John Wick 4
Keanu Reeves: Childhood & Early Years
- Keanu Reeves was born on September 2, 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon, to Samuel Nowlin Reeves and Patricia Reeves. His father was an Asian-American geologist of Chinese and Hawaiian descent and his mother was an English showgirl. Reeves’ first name means ‘cool breeze over the mountains’ in Hawaiian language. His parents got divorced when he was only 3 years old.
- Reeves used to move around from one place to another with his mother and had many stepfathers. After his parents’ formal divorce, Reeves and his mother shifted to Sydney, Australia, where she worked as a costume designer. In there his half sister Kim was born and the three of them again moved to New York, while his father went to live in Hawaii where Reeves visited him until he was 13 years old.
- It was a matter of sometime that his mother again married for the second time in New York to director Paul Aaron and they all moved to Toronto with him and attained Canadian citizenship. But only a year after, the couple split and Reeves’ mother married for the third time in 1976 to a rock promoter called Robert Miller and Reeves second half-sister Karina was born. She got divorced again and married for the fourth time in 1994 to a hairdresser called Jack Bond.
- All of this emotional instability and geographical vagrancy, Reeves and his sisters were mostly raised by baby-sitters and grandparents. He went to four different high schools which included Etobicoke School of the Arts from where he was expelled but he was not a very adhering young boy. He also attended schools like De La Salle College and the Toronto School for the Performing Arts. He dropped out of the college for ever at the age of 17 and decided to take up acting in the movies as his career choice. In high school, he was never a very academic and studious young boy; he was more into ice-hockey and dramatics.
Keanu Reeves: Family & Personal Life
In 1993, Reeves was devastated and broken down by the death of his co-star and close friend River Phoenix. The two acted together in ‘My Own Private Idaho,’ in 1991. Phoenix died of drug overdose and it was rumored that both Phoenix and Reeves experimented with drugs for the role that they were playing in the movie and Phoenix started taking drugs around that time only.
In 2000, Reeves’ longtime girlfriend Jennifer Syme, a production assistant and part-time actress, delivered their still baby who they called ‘Ava’. The tragedy became the cause for their break-up, but both remained close friends even after parting ways.
In 2001, just a year after the birth of their still born baby Ava, Jennifer was killed in a car accident, while she was coming back from Marilyn Manson’s party in her LA house. It was believed that she died because she was driving under the influence of drugs and prescribed medicine. This devastated Reeves and he said at one of his interviews ‘grief changes shape but it never ends’.
In 2008, it was said that Reeves was dating China Chow, a 38 year old actress and daughter of restaurateur Michael Chow. He made a formal appearance with her during the Cannes Film Festival. Around that time, there were photos floating on the internet showing Chow swimming topless along with Reeves in France. But they broke up soon after and Reeves was romantically connected to an actress called Parker Posey.
In 2010, Reeves gained a lot of publicity on the internet when someone posted his photograph in which he is sitting on a bench and eating alone and he looks miserable. It was posted on a 4chan forum. It became viral on the internet and was soon famous under the title of ‘Keanu is Sad’ or ‘Sad Keanu’. Reeves told The Guardian, when prompted to speak over the matter, ‘It is hopefully transformative. The kind of thing that takes you from one place to another – to look at yourself and you know, it can always be worse. I hate that sentence: of course it can always be worse!’
Keanu Reeves Movie
- The Matrix (1999)
- John Wick (2014)
- John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
- A Walk in the Clouds (1995)
- The Devil’s Advocate (1997)
- Speed (1994)
- Point Break (1991)
- Constantine (2005)
- The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
- The Lake House (2006)
Keanu Reeves: Awards
| 2000 | Best Male Performance | The Matrix (1999) |
| 2000 | Best Fight | The Matrix (1999) |
| 1995 | Best On-Screen Duo | Speed (1994) |
| 1992 | Most Desirable Male | Point Break (1991) |
