The man, the myth, the legend; Keanu Reeves. Keanu is a famous and talented actor. There are entire internet threads dedicated to documenting Keanu’s daily activities, but there are also some people that think he’s too overrated. They believe he may not deserve all the hype and fame.
Keanu Reeves has a net worth of $350 million! He has been in movies and TV shows since the ’80s and hasn’t slowed down since. He has an inactive twitter account, and he doesn’t even have an Instagram. He doesn’t like to talk too much about his life, but we still managed to dig deep and find facts about Reeves that you probably didn’t know.
He Loves Ballroom Dancing
This may come as a shock, but Keanu Reeves, John Wick, Neo from the Matrix loves ballroom dancing. Reeves appeared on the Graham Norton Show in May of 2019. When he was asked about it, the actor told Norton, “it sounded like fun.”
Reeve described ballroom dancing as ‘amazing, thrilling… it was pretty special’. He then continued saying that he got high from doing the waltz for the first time!
He Saw A Ghost
In 2014, Keanu Reeves came on Jimmy Kimmel and told the story of when he saw a ghost. It was when he moved to New York from Australia with his mom, siblings, and nanny. Reeves was just six or seven at the time.
Reeves expresses how he was sitting his room when he suddenly saw a floating jacket in the doorway, but with no head or body. Renata (the family nanny) stood there shocked. Reeves thought that if she noticed it too, then it must be real!
He Might Be Immortal
Keanu seems never to age! If you take a look at pictures of him from the ’90s, he looks exactly the same now! There are many rumors and theories about how Keanu Reeves is actually immortal. One of the theories suggests that he is Charlemagne, the former king of France.
He then became actor Paul Mounet before turning into the Keanu Reeves we all know and love. There is definitely a striking resemblance between all these all met. Maybe Keanu really is immortal.
He Picked Winnipeg Over De Niro and Pacino
In 1995, Reeves turned down the chance to appear Al Pacino and Robert Deniro’s film, Heat. Val Kilmer ended portraying the role that was intended for Keanu.
Instead, Reeves took the role of Prince Hamlet at the Manitoba Theatre’s production of the play. The crowds were sold out every night, and people came from all over the world to watch Reeves’s performances.
He’s Moved Around A lot
In 1964, Reeves was born in Beirut. He mother is English, and his father is American-Chinese-Hawaiian. When Keanu was just 2 years old, his parents got divorced, and he moved to Sydney Australia for about 3 years. The family then lived in New York City before finally moving to Toronto in 1970.
Keanu stayed in Canada with his family until he turned 17 and decided to move to LA permanently. He holds a U.S. Green Card. However, he still refers to himself as a Canadian and remains a Canadian citizen.
He Never Graduated High School
Reeves has publically stated that as a teenager, he wasn’t academically focused. He was a bit of a trouble maker and was more interested in sports than education. While living in Canada, Reeves went to four different high schools in five years. One school he attended was Etobicoke School of the Arts, but he got expelled.
At age 17, Reeves dropped out of high school and ended his academic career. He chose to pursue acting and went to live with his former step-father in LA. He never received a high school diploma.
Only Some of His Teeth Are Real
In 2008, Reeves mentioned in an interview how he wouldn’t wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle. This is dangerous, and unfortunately, Reeves got in a few accidents which led to numerous injuries. In addition to a ruptured spleen, and breaking his ankle, Reeves lost some of his teeth.
Keanu expressed in an interview how “Once a call pilled a U-turn in front of me, didn’t see me coming, and I couldn’t get out of the way. That one’s responsible for my fake teeth.”
He and Drake Were on the Same TV Show
Degrassi is basically the Law &Order SVU of Canada. It’s almost like every Canadian actor made an appearance on at least one episode of the show, including Drake and Keanu Reeves.
In 2013, Reeves appeared as a supporting character in one episode of Degrassi’s season summer event. The show premiered in 2001 and is still airing today. Other famous names appeared on the show such as Nina Dobrev, Shay Mitchell, Stephen Amell, but most famously, Drake.
He Bought Ice-cream just for the Receipt
A recently surfaced story is more evidence of the goodness of Keanu Reeves. A writer named James Dator told a story on Twitter about the actor. James said that when he was 16, he met Reeves and he unconventionally got his autograph.
Dator didn’t get Reeves autograph when she showed up at the box office he worked at. After selling Reeves a ticket, there was a knock on the office door. It was Keanu Reeves, giving him his autograph on a concession stand receipt. Dator said he watched Keanu throw the ice cream cone in the trash. He literally bought the ice cream so that he could get a receipt for an autograph.
He is Possibly Married to Winona Ryder
Normally people remember big events like their wedding day. However, Reeves may not. Apparently, he and Winona Ryder from Stranger Things might be legally married. In 1992, Reeves and Ryder co-starred in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In the movie, the two-shot a wedding scene that could have been legitimate.
The director Francis Ford Coppola has stated the priest performed a full ceremony. Therefore, Keanu and Winona were married legally. Wedding scenes happen in a lot of movies, and obviously, the actors aren’t really married. However, since they decided to use a real priest in a real LA church, it could be debated that the two are actually married.
There Were Rumors that he is a Lonely Guy
Reeves recently admitted in an interview that he was “a lonely guy.” He reportedly said, “You know, I’m the lonely guy. I don’t have anyone in my life, but if it does occur, I will respect and love the other person; hopefully, it’ll happen for me.” However, it has since been revealed that the interview wasn’t even real.
One of Reeves rep explained that “This interview did not happen… This was pieced together from several interviews, and the majority of these questions were asked, not answered. They are fabricated.” Fortunately, it looks like Reeves isn’t so lonely after all.
He’s a Secret Philanthropist
Keanu Reeves runs a private foundation that helps donate money to children’s hospitals and cancer research. His inspiration for this charity was his sister, who was diagnosed with leukemia back in the ’90s. The secret behind this is that Reeves doesn’t publically take credit for it.
“I have a private foundation that’s been running for five or six years, and it helps aid a couple of children’s hospitals and cancer research. I don’t like to attach my name to it; I just let the foundation do what it does,” Reeves said in an interview.
He’s an Author
There was a photo of Keanu that turned into a viral meme. He was sitting on a bench eating a sandwich, and the meme said ‘Sad Keanu.’ In response, Reeves wrote a poem called ‘Ode to Happiness’ which was kind of written to make fun on himself. The poem included lines like “I wash my hair with regret shampoo” and “I draw a hot sorrow bath.”
Keanu’s friend Janey Bergman thought it was a hilarious idea to turn the poem into a children-style book and then give it to Reeves as a present! Bergman and illustrator Alexandra Grant worked together for six months to create the adult picture book. German publisher, Gerhard Steidl printed a limited 4000 copies of the book.
He Almost Changed his Name
In the 1980s when Keanu first moved to Las Angeles, casting agents suggested he changed his name. It was considered too exotic and hard to pronounce. Keanu has a Hawaiian name, and it means “cool breeze over the mountain.”
A few options for new names were “Chuck Spadina” and “Page Templeton III.” He actually began using these names when applying for roles. Reeves ultimately stuck to Keanu; he found himself using his own name once he got to the audition anyway.
Keanu’s Early Roles
Before he graced our screens with The Matrix, John Wick or even Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, young Keanu was showing off his talent on the stage. He earned his first professional acting role at the age of 9. He starred in the production of Damn Yankees. At age 15, he got the part of Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet at the Leah Posluns Theatre in Toronto.
It wasn’t until 1984 when Keanu got his first on-screen role. He appeared on the Canadian TV show called Hangin’ in. He continued to be in a handful of commercials throughout the ’80s.
He Cares About the Movie More Than the Money
Keanu Reeves has been known to insist on forfeiting parts of his salaries, to hire other actors for certain films. For example, while shooting The Devil’s Advocate, Reeves took a pay cut of a few million dollars. That way the producers would be able to bring on Al Pacino too.
Another example of this is in 2000 when filming The Replacements. For Gene Hackman to join the project, Keanu took a 90 percent salary cut. Keanu mostly cares about creating the best movies he can.
Before Acting, he Had a Hockey Dream
Keanu Reeves wasn’t exactly an academically incline student when he was in high school, and he will be the first to admit that. He did. However, I love playing hockey. He was very talented in the sport and was even given the nickname “the wall” for his skills as a goalie.
His dream was to play in the NFL. Sadly, he had to give up that dream after suffering an injury in high school. Luckily for us, he focused on acting instead. Rumor has it that he joined a road hockey league when he first moved to LA. Apparently, he continued to play with the team even after becoming famous.
He chooses to Take Public Transportation
Keanu is very successful. He owns a Porsche in addition to all his motorcycles but still chooses to take public transportation. People have stopped him on a subway a few times. There is also a viral video of Reeves giving up his seat for a woman with a heavy bag.
Another example was back in March. Reeves airplane was stranded because of some mechanical issues. Keanu decided to just take a bus like everyone else instead of requesting private transportation. One passenger documented the whole thing on Instagram.
He Owns Businesses
On top of all his other talents, Keanu Reeves owns two businesses. One is a production company, and the other is a motorcycle shop. Reeves co-founded ‘Company Films’ which was the production company that helped produce Henry’s Crime, which also starred Reeves in 2010.
His second business is very different from his production company. In 2011 he co-founded the Arch Motorcycle Company. The company builds and sells custom motorcycles out of Hawthorne California, the stores only location.
He Loves and Cares for his Crew
Keanu Reeves has a very generous heart and loves to give money away. However, he refuses to take any public credit for it. After the success of The Matrix, Reeves insisted on giving a pretty big portion of his salary to the special effects and costume teams, while signing the contract for the next two Matrix movies.
Reeves made a total of around $256 million for his role in The Matrix trilogy. It is estimated that he gave approximately $75 million to the crew. Reeves believed that they did a lot of work and deserved just as much as he did. He also once gave a crew member $20,000 for Christmas to help his family who was struggling.
He Likes Doing His Own Stunt Work
Keanu loves doing his own stunts and is always willing to do them, especially if they involve motorcycles. In his most recent movie John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Reeves performed 90% of his own stunts! Since he is 54 years old, Reeves admits that it’s becoming harder on his body.
The actor said that “it’s more about recovery, but with experience, though, you become more efficient, and hopefully you get better at what you’re doing. Chad Stahelski, the director of the John Wick trilogy, said that he started off working as a stunt double for Reeves in The Matrix. He went on to work as a stunt coordinator later on.
He’s had, Multiple Stepfathers
Although Reeves never lived with his biological father, he has had several stepfathers growing up. His mother was constantly remarrying before, sadly, getting divorced again. Fortunately for Keanu, he always had male figures in his life, especially during key formative years when he needed them.
Even though he didn’t really have such a stable home, he wasn’t negatively impacted by having these different men in his life. If anything, it taught him a lot about himself.
He Was a Restaurant Manager
Even though today, Keanu Reeves is one of the most famous actors, nobody starts at the top. Since he was young, Reeves knew the value of money and that it takes hard work and dedication to make it in the world.
When he was a teenager, Reeves worked at an Italian restaurant in Toronto. Clearly, he understood the meaning of hard work, and his employer agreed as he worked his way up to manager.
His First Big Part Was Rob Lowe
When Keanu was still a young actor, Reeves and Rob Lowe appeared in Youngblood, a hockey film. It was shot in Canada, and it had a big impact on career since it was his first serious role.
He left Canada driving a 1969 Volvo and a lot of confidence in making it in Hollywood. He had a few small roles and then got cast for Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. As they say, the rest is history.
Many Talents
In addition to his love of motorcycles and acting abilities, Reeves is also a talented musician. Back in 1991, Keanu was a member of Dogstar. He was the bass guitar player and the grunge band performed at large shows.
In 1995, the band opened for Bon Jovi in Australia. Another notable performance was at the Glastonbury music festival. Dogstar disbanded many years ago, but Reeves didn’t stop playing. He said music is still really important to him and will always be a significant part of his life.
He had s Stalker
Obviously, Keanu Reeves has millions of fans, and some of them are obsessed with the star. Reeves understands fans running after him and is pretty much used to it by now. In 2014 however, one fan took things a little too far. Reeves was sleeping and woke up when he heard a sound in his house.
As he looked around to find out what the sound was, he found a woman in his library! She claimed she just really wanted to meet him! Reeves stayed calm and spoke with the woman as he called the police.
Another Stalker
Three days after Reeves found a crazy woman in his library, he had another encounter with an insane fan. Yet another woman managed to get through an unlocked gate and successfully break into Keanu’s home.
If that wasn’t crazy enough for you, she actually took a shower in his bathroom and then decided to take a swim in Keanu’s pool… nude. Thankfully, he wasn’t home when this incident occurred. Reeves was notified when the police were called, and the woman got arresting for trespassing.
Back to Back Tragedies
In 1999, Jennifer Syme, Keanu’s girlfriend, gave birth when she was eight months pregnant. Sadly, the baby was stillborn. This tragedy was very difficult for the couple, and their relationship ended just a few weeks later.
To make matters worse, in 2001, Jennifer was driving and sideswiped three parked cars, rolled her own car and was thrown out of it. It was believed that she died instantly. Apparently, at the time, she was on two different prescriptions for depression.
Acting May have Gotten him into Smoking Cigarettes
If you have internet, it’s not hard to find photos of Keanu Reeves smoking cigarettes, especially in recent years. However, Reeve hasn’t always been a smoker and may have picked up the habit while working on a movie.
When Keanu starred in Feeling Minnesota, he was required to smoke cigarettes because his character did. Ultimately, he became addicted to nicotine. He might be trying to quit cigarettes. However, he hasn’t yet accomplished that goal.
Shakespeare Fan
After portraying Ted in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Reeves was almost typecast as a goofy actor. Luckily, that all changed in 1993 when Keanu was cast in the movie adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado About Nothing. It wasn’t Reeves first Shakespeare experience.
He performed in a theater production of Romeo & Juliet when he lived in Canada. After starring in Much Ado About Nothing, Reeves went on to portray Hamlet at the Manitoba Theater Center. He wanted to play Hamlet so badly, that he even turned down two major movie roles for the part.
He Was in a Coca-Cola Commercial
Most actors start off their career appearing in commercials before, becoming big movie stars. Keanu Reeves was no different. His first TV acting job was for a Coca-Cola commercial.
Reeves played a cyclist in a race. After losing the race, his coach comforts him by giving him a bottle of Coca Cola and Reeves accepts. Another cyclist then asks Keanu, who is a coach is, and he replies, “my dad” at the end of the commercial.
Hanging Out With the Homeless
Keanu Reeves doesn’t really love to give interviews and doesn’t do them often. Nevertheless, the paparazzi managed to capture some interesting situations that Reeves managed to get himself into. One of these situations is when Reeves was hanging out with a homeless man.
Keanu was seen sharing his snacks and drinks with the man. He even laid next to him on the ground listening to the man tell him stories. Treating everyone equally is the most incredible trait and even more impressive when it’s coming from a huge star.
He’s a Spiritual
Keanu Reeves is a complex guy. He doesn’t belong to any particular religion, but he doesn’t consider himself an atheist either. He expressed his interest in different philosophies, including Buddhism, but mostly, he is spiritual in his own way.
When Reeves was asked if he was spiritual, his response was, “I don’t know? I don’t know the spiritual Richter-scale measurement! That’s a weird answer, isn’t it? I don’t know. Do I believe in God, faith, inner faith, the self, passion, and things? Yes, of course! I’m very spiritual… supremely spiritual… Bountifully spiritual… supremely bountiful.” Well, that’s quite the answer!
He Loves to Read
Even though Reeves didn’t finish high school or have the most impressive educational history, it wasn’t because he lacked intelligence. Reeves is actually smart and loved to read. He also chooses to read novels that challenge him.
Some of his favorite books to read are, The Count of Monte Christo, The Lord of the Rings, The Idiot Notes from Underground, In Search of Lost Time, and many more. Keanu reads for enjoyment and even finishes books that daunting for others to get through.
He Learned Martial Arts
Although Reeves is far from being a master in martial arts, he still probably knows more about it than the rest of the world. Since he likes to do his own stunts, he needs to educate himself about the stunts he is doing.
While he was preparing for his role in the Matrix trilogy, Reeves studied over 200 types of martial arts. Also, he received actual training in martial arts in preparation to play Neo.
Best Friends With River Phoenix
Actor River Phoenix was good friends with Keanu Reeves in the industry as they were two upcoming stars. The friends really got the chance to bond in 1993, when they both landed roles in the movie, My Own Private Idaho. Tragically, Phoenix died later that year outside of a nightclub, due to a drug-related heart problem.
After Phoenix passed away, Reeves said that “River was a remarkable artist and a rare human being. I miss him every day.” Keanu did not blame Hollywood for the actor’s death. He admitted that Phoenix has some of his own underlying problems.
He Wasn’t Scared to Experience
Although Reeves lost his best friends at such a young age due to drugs, it didn’t stop Keanu from experimenting himself. Reeves hasn’t gotten into too much detail, but he opened up about on the topic.
He said that he had wonderful experiences. “I mean really wonderful. In teaching. Personal epiphanies. About life. About a different perspective that you have. Do you know what I mean? Relationships to nature. Relationships with the self. With other people. With events.” It seems like the drugs Keanu was taking were mostly psychedelic.
Olympics Fan
Reeves would much rather spend his time reading and building motorcycles instead of watching TV. The Olympics however, are an exception. Even though it only happens once every four years. The Olympics holds a special place in his heart.
“You know, I don’t have a favorite TV show, but I do know that I love watching the Olympics. Whenever the Olympics are on, I just love watching the moments that you get these incredible athletes dedicating so much of their lives to the moments that happen in the Olympics and it is great to be able to witness that,” Reeves commented.
New Bill & Ted Movie
Keanu Reeves has been joking around for years about the idea of making a new Bill & Ted film with Alex Winter. It looks like we will finally get to see it because the script is already written!
When Reeves discussed the film, he stated, “I have spoken about it to Alex, who is a good friend of mine, and we came up with this idea of characters in their forties… now that I’m already in my mid-forties, we might have to wait until we are in our fifties to do it.”
Point Break taught him to surf
During his 1991 movie Point Break, director Kathryn Bigelow made sure that a few real surfers were cast so that the movie would look more realistic. The other members of the cast had to learn to surf including Keanu.
Keanu enjoyed it so much that he started surfing regularly. He even continues to surf today. This isn’t too surprising since we know that Reeves prefers to do most of his own stunt work.