1. In Hawaiian, the name Keanu means "cool wind over the mountains."
2. Keanu's father, Samuel Knowlene Reeves, is half Hawaiian, half Chinese, and his mother, Patrick, is English.
3. Keanu never reads the mails of his fans, because he does not want to be responsible for what may be written there. In addition, he prefers to spend the time that it would take him to read such letters with his loved ones. He has said this more than once in his interviews.
4. As children, Keanu and his sister Kim had dyslexia (speech impairment, inability to read), which many believe to be the reason for his withdrawal.
5. Keanu never had his own computer. If he still has to communicate with a computer, he plays chess. Keanu has argued more than once that he is more interested in the relationship between man and computer than in the computer itself.
6. Keanu is afraid to have children because this world often scares him. However, he believes that he is capable of falling in love to such an extent that it will no longer matter what lies ahead.
7. The actor played bass in Dogstar. In 2002, Keanu joined his Dogstar bandmate Rob Meilhouse in the new band Becky.
8. Since childhood, he has been fond of hockey, and also cannot imagine his life without a motorcycle, Keanu has three of them.
9. After filming "On the Crest of a Wave" the actor became interested in surfing, and after participating in the movie "Much Ado About Nothing" Keanu fell in love with equestrian sports.
10. Keanu is left-handed.
11. Keanu has three sisters.
12. On January 31, 2005, Keanu Reeves received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
13. Rejecting a lucrative offer to star in the sequel to "Speed" (rumored to have offered him $ 11 million), Reeves chose to star in the movie "Devil's Advocate" with Al Pacino and Charlize Theron; Reeves agreed to lower his own salary in order to attract Al Pacino to the film, and he did the same in "Understudy" for the participation of Gene Hackman.
14. In 1994, Keanu turned down an offer to star in the movie "Fight" with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, as a result the role went to Val Kilmer.
15. Reeves' screen debut came in 1979 on Canadian television. In the early 1980s, he starred in commercials (including Coca-Cola commercials) and short films in Toronto. His first role in a studio film was as a hockey goalkeeper in Rob Lowy's Young Blood (1985).
16. Keanu made a public service advertisement about the benefits of a seat belt, so Keanu tried to save at least someone, if he could not save his girlfriend Jennifer Syme.
17. In 2001, Reeves' friend Jennifer Syme, 29, died in a car accident; her jeep crashed into three parked cars on a Los Angeles street. Keanu buried his girlfriend in the Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles next to the grave of their stillborn daughter.
18. Reeves had an affair with Jennifer Syme, assistant director to David Lynch and a friend of Keanu's sister, Karina. On January 8, 2000, they were supposed to have a daughter, whom he was going to call Ava Archer Syme-Reeves. But a week before giving birth, the doctor stopped hearing the baby's heartbeat; An ultrasound scan showed that the girl died in the womb, the cause of death was a blood clot in the umbilical cord.
19. Keanu has Canadian and British citizenship.
20. Reeves has three sisters: Kim Reeves (born 1966, Beirut, Lebanon), Karina Miller (born 1976, Toronto, Canada) and Emma Rose Reeves (born 1980, Hawaii). Kim Reeves is an actress who also bred horses.
21. Reeves attended four high schools in five years, including an acting school, from which he was dropped; He began his acting career at the age of 15, participating in stage productions at a local club.
22. After leaving the Catholic Boys' High School, where he played hockey, he entered a free public school, combining his studies and acting. He later dropped out of school without receiving a high school diploma.
23. On the high school hockey team, Keanu was nicknamed "The Wall" by pals for being a top-notch goalkeeper; the future actor worked in a flour store, sharpened skates and was recognized as the MVP (Most Valued Player) in his school's hockey team.
24. When Reeves first appeared in Hollywood, his agent thought the actor's name was too exotic, so in early films he sometimes appeared in the credits under the names of C.S. Reeves, Norman Reeves or Chuck Speedna.
25. Replaced Val Kilmer as Johnny Mnemonic, as he preferred the role of Batman in the movie Batman Forever.
Life of the Stars
7082
02.09.15 16:52
In 2015, at the Golden Raspberry Anti-Awards, he was nominated for the Return of Reputation prize (a new nomination awarded to "rehabilitated" actors), due to the title role in John Wick, played by Keanu Reeves. Interesting facts about the artist - we have timed this list for the 51st birthday of the star.
Three sisters
The actor's exotic appearance is the result of a mixture of bloods (mother is English, father is Hawaiian with Chinese roots).
But the name Keanu received in honor of his grandfather (on his father's side) - Henry Keanu (derived from the Hawaiian "keaweaheulu", which means "cool mountain wind").
The artist's parents broke up when he was three years old, therefore, in addition to his own younger sister Kim by 2 years, he has a half-sister Karina and a half-sister (on her father's side) - Emma.
Fun fact: Keanu Reeves was born on the same day as Salma Hayek (September 2), only he is 2 years older.
Hockey player and musician
In his youth, Keanu worked as a skate grinder and was an avid hockey player. Friends nicknamed him "The Wall": standing at the gate, he missed very few goals and repeatedly won the title of "most useful player".
It is symbolic that the first role of an artist in a movie is a hockey player (drama Young Blood).
"Neo" has a lot of talents, including musical. He plays great bass guitar, at one time he founded the group "Dogstar", and when it broke up, he became a member of the "Becky" group.
Despite being left-handed, Reeves plays his guitar with his right hand.
Education is not the main thing!
Reeves had a character - not sugar, he grew up rather closed, so in a few years he changed three schools, he was also expelled from the acting studio. In the end, the guy never received a secondary education.
Dyslexia also added fuel to the fire: both Keanu and Kim suffered from this disorder.
Another of his youthful side jobs was the manager of a grocery store (they sold pasta) in Toronto.
Heavy losses
Together with River Phoenix, Keanu starred in the drama "My Private Idaho", it was this actor who was Reeves' best friend, but he died early from an overdose.
Keanu Reeves' film biography contains three films that contain the name of the American state ("My Personal State of Idaho", "The Prince of Pennsylvania" and "Feeling Minnesota").
Reeves is wary of the world around him, so he never wanted children. But when fate gave him a chance to become a father, he was incredibly happy. This chance was not destined to be realized - the unborn child died due to a blood clot in the umbilical cord. Keanu and his girlfriend Jennifer Syme named their daughter Ava and buried them.
A year passed, and Jennifer joined Ava at Westwood Cemetery - she crashed in a car in 2001: her jeep crashed into other cars.
The death of his girlfriend became a terrible tragedy for the actor, and he shot a social advertisement dedicated to driving safety.
Hobbies and aliases
Keanu loves ballroom dancing, is fond of surfing (this hobby "stuck" to him after filming the action movie "On the Crest of the Wave") and dressage.
To play Neo in The Matrix, Reeves studied several types of martial arts. After the release of the first part of the trilogy on the screen, he became the highest paid actor.
At the beginning of his career, the producers and agent of the Canadian did not like his name - they believed that the audience would not remember this, so in his early works he appears as "Norman Reeves" or "K. S. Reeves "(his middle name is Charles).
Double castling
In 1994, Keanu did not want to take part in the crime drama "Skirmish", the role went to Val Kilmer.
And a year later there was a "reverse castling": Kilmer was offered a job in "Johnny Mnemonic", but he decided to play Batman (the tape "Batman Forever"), and the image of Johnny tried on Reeves.
"Speed" made the artist a star, but he did not want to star in the sequel, although he was offered a large fee. And he did the right thing - the film was a failure.
Instead of Speed \u200b\u200b2, Keanu starred in The Devil's Advocate: it was an opportunity to catch up in Skirmish (to work with Al Pacino).
Something about awards and criticism
In early 2005, Reeves' star appeared on the Walk of Fame - number 2277.
One more fact about Keanu Reeves: for a long time he did not want to acquire his own housing and stayed in hotels (preferring "Chateau Mormon"), and at 39 he finally acquired his own mansion.
The artist has no Oscars or Golden Globes, but he has four MTV awards (and 8 nominations).
Five times Reeves was nominated for the "anti-Oscar", "Golden Raspberry", and in 2015, at this ceremony, he almost received a "prize for restoring reputation", but they were awarded Ben Affleck.
The artist himself claims that criticism does not bother him at all.
Forever young and ... sad
Keanu will never give him years. Maybe because he looks after himself and uses Payot cleansing masks? Find the difference between Keanu "sample 1994" and "sample 2008"!
Since the artist's mother is British, he has British citizenship in addition to Canadian.
In 2010, the paparazzi photographed Keanu sitting on a bench with a sandwich. On the basis of this picture, the Internet meme "Sad Keanu" was born. Fans could not stand aside and instituted Keanu Reeves Mood Day - an interesting fact, right? It is celebrated on June 15th.
Despite rumors of unsociability, Keanu is very friendly and welcoming.
Reeves doesn't believe in God.
The actor is a fan of the prose writer Barry Eisler, who writes novels about the spy John Rhine.
In 2011, together with his familiar mechanic, Keanu founded a motorcycle company - he is crazy about them.
Keanu Reeves' name is most often associated with one of his "main" roles - Neo from the legendary trilogy "The Matrix". However, the trilogy, which at one time became a new breakthrough in cinema and once and for all entered the classics of sci-fi action movies, is actually just one episode in Reeves' long and eventful career, and it is not at all limited to cinema. This collection contains facts that reveal new aspects of the life of an actor who became known not only as a Hollywood movie star, but also a musician, poet, philanthropist and just a person to whom it is impossible not to feel sympathy.
Keanu Reeves (who turns 53 this year) has starred in over 70 films in a wide variety of roles throughout his career. Viewers are so accustomed to seeing him on screen that they rarely think about how long the career of an actor who has already turned half a century is. Moreover, Reeves is "saved" very well - what is not a reason to suspect him of collusion with the Matrix. There is a joke about Reeves that he is actually immortal. It is worth remembering here that he gave up $ 80 million of his $ 114 million in royalties for filming three parts of The Matrix in favor of special effects and make-up artists. However, he said:
“The least thing I care about is money. What I have already earned will be enough for me for several centuries of comfortable life. "
Reeves' fee for filming "The Devil's Advocate" was cut on his own initiative by $ 2 million so that Al Pacino could be invited to the role of John Milton.
Being a man with modest (especially for a Hollywood star) needs, Reeves for a long time did without substantial cash savings, and finally bought himself a house in Hollywood at only 39 years old.
The name "Keanu" means "cool wind over the mountains" in Hawaiian. When Reeves was still a little-known actor, his agent believed that his name was too exotic. In some early films, Reeves is credited as K.C. Reeves, Norman Kreeves or Chuck Spadina.
Reeves' mother is English and his father is Hawaiian American with English, Irish, Portuguese, Hawaiian and Chinese roots. Reeves' childhood was difficult. He was born on September 2, 1964 in the capital of Lebanon, Beirut, then moved with his mother and father to Australia, where his sister was born. There, his parents divorced (Keanu was three years old at that time), after which the mother with two children moved to America, to New York, where she remarried. Then the whole family moved to Canada and received Canadian citizenship. This was followed by a new divorce and a new marriage with Reeves' mother, in which his second sister, a half-sister, was born.
Keanu Reeves himself summed up the difficult circumstances of his family life as follows:
“I'm a middle class white guy from a wealthy family. With an absent father, a strong mother and two lovely younger sisters. "
Living in Toronto as a child and adolescent, Reeves changed four schools. Playing sports (hockey) was given to him better than studying. As a result, he left school without receiving a certificate of secondary education.
Reeves played bass in two bands. Reeves is left-handed, but plays bass with his right hand. His group Dogstar was formed in 1991. In total, the group only released two albums, although in 1995 she played as an opening act for Bon Jovi on the Australian and New Zealand tours, and also performed on the same stage with David Bowie himself.
Reeves humorously spoke about the notorious "Sad Keanu" meme:
“One day I saw Sad Keanu, and this is how I first got to know memes. It was very funny. "
According to Reeves, he once saw a ghost as a child. The ghost looked like “an empty white double-breasted suit that walked on its own. He appeared in the room and scared me and my nanny to death. "
Reeves is a follower of Buddhism and a principled supporter of peace. Despite his role as an action star, he repeatedly turned down roles in films where there was too much violence.
From early childhood, Reeves aspired to become an actor. He got his first role at the age of 9 in the play "Damned Yankees". He made his acting debut in 1984 on the television series Perseverance. This was the beginning of his career, which led him to Hollywood.
The breakthrough film in Reeves' acting career, which attracted positive attention from critics, was the crime drama On the River Bank (directed by Tim Hunter, 1987).
Before reaching fame, Reeves faced criticism for his "flat acting" and "lack of diversity in his roles." However, he has starred in films of a wide variety of genres, ranging from arthouse to action thrillers. In 1991, acclaimed film critic Janet Maslin spoke of Reeves' acting versatility when commenting on his performance in On the Crest of the Wave. Maslin wrote that Reeves “plays clearly and with a wide variety of techniques. He easily goes from the restraint and formality suitable for a police crime drama to the free manner inherent in his comedic roles. "
Reeves loves to read despite the fact that all his life has been suffering from dyslexia (dyslexia is a violation of the ability to master the skills of reading and writing). Among his favorite books are The Lord of the Rings, The Count of Monte Cristo and In Search of Lost Time.
In 2011, Reeves released his own book of poetry, "Ode to Happiness."
In the fall of 2014, a woman who dreamed of meeting her idol secretly entered Reeves' house. Finding her in his library, Reeves spoke to her calmly and amiably - but still called 911.
Just three days after that, the incident repeated itself - but with another fan of the actor, who also illegally entered his home and managed to swim in his pool before she was discovered.
In 2008, a certain Alison Silva, a paparazzi, sued Reeves, claiming that he had deliberately hit him with a car. Silva estimated his moral damage at $ 711,974. For two years, until a trial in this case took place, Silva did not stop pursuing the actor and demanding money from him. Reeves was eventually acquitted by jury and Silva's suit was dismissed.
In 1998, Reeves began dating actress Jennifer Syme. The next year, Jennifer was already expecting a baby - a girl they wanted to call Ava, but she died in the womb a week before giving birth. A year and a half later, Jennifer Syme herself died in a car accident. It was at this time that Reeves was about to begin filming the first film in the Matrix trilogy.
Reeves turned down his role in the action movie Speed \u200b\u200b2 (directed by Jan de Bont, 1997) in order to play Hamlet in a small Canadian theater.
Reeves commented on acting:
“People say every now and then:" Here again, some kind of unintelligible uninteresting role. " Most of it seems funny to me. Ultimately, you always hope that people will like your work. If not, then it can be depressing. But the strangest thing for me is when people confuse me with the character I'm playing. "
Reeves loves motorcycles and has been riding them for many years. The stuntmen who took part in the filming of The Matrix received Harley-Davidson motorcycles from him as a gift.
For the filming of The Matrix Reloaded, Reeves learned over 200 fighting techniques.
Reeves takes the subway. There is even a video of an eyewitness who filmed in a subway car, as an actor gives way to a woman.
Reeves not only took custody of his sister when she contracted leukemia, but he donated millions of dollars to hospitals and cancer research. He also created his own cancer charity foundation, and initially chose not to betray his role in organizing the fund to publicity. In addition, he supports and funds PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), an animal rights organization, as well as organizations dedicated to treating childhood diseases (Sick Children Foundation) and supporting cancer patients (Say No to Cancer ").
As a child, Reeves played great hockey and even earned the nickname "The Wall" as an excellent goalkeeper. His dream was to get into the Canadian Olympic hockey team, but an injury prevented his sports career. But later, in 1986, Reeves took to the ice again when he starred in the sports drama Young Blood, in which he played the goalkeeper of the Quebec hockey team.
Despite his status as a movie star, Reeves is humble and even stated about his appearance:
"I do not consider myself to be any particularly beautiful or sexy."
In 2005, Reeves was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1. In Hawaiian, the name Keanu means "cool wind over the mountains."
2. Keanu's father, Samuel Knowlene Reeves, is half Hawaiian, half Chinese, and his mother, Patrick, is English.
3. Keanu never reads the mail of his fans, because he does not want to be responsible for what may be written there. In addition, he prefers to spend the time it would take him to read such letters with his loved ones. He has said this more than once in his interviews.
4. As children, Keanu and his sister Kim had dyslexia (speech impairment, inability to read), which many believe to be the reason for his withdrawal.
5. Keanu never had his own computer. If he still has to communicate with a computer, he plays chess. Keanu has argued more than once that he is more interested in the relationship between man and computer than in the computer itself.
6. Keanu is afraid to have children because this world often scares him. However, he believes that he is capable of falling in love to such an extent that it will no longer matter what lies ahead.
7. The actor played bass in Dogstar. In 2002, Keanu joined his Dogstar bandmate Rob Meilhouse in the new band Becky.
8. Since childhood, he has been fond of hockey, and also cannot imagine his life without a motorcycle, Keanu has three of them.
9. After filming "On the Crest of a Wave" the actor became interested in surfing, and after participating in the movie "Much Ado About Nothing" Keanu fell in love with equestrian sports.
10. Keanu is left-handed.
11. Keanu has three sisters.
13. Rejecting a lucrative offer to star in the sequel to "Speed" (rumored to have offered him $ 11 million), Reeves chose to star in the movie "Devil's Advocate" with Al Pacino and Charlize Theron; Reeves agreed to lower his own salary in order to attract Al Pacino to the film, and he did the same in "Understudy" for the participation of Gene Hackman.
14. In 1994, Keanu turned down an offer to star in the movie "Fight" with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, as a result, the role went to Val Kilmer.
15. Reeves' screen debut came in 1979 on Canadian television. In the early 1980s, he starred in commercials (including Coca-Cola commercials) and short films in Toronto. His first role in a studio film was as a hockey goalkeeper in Rob Lowy's Young Blood (1985).
17. In 2001, Reeves' girlfriend Jennifer Syme, 29, died in a car accident; her jeep crashed into three parked cars on a Los Angeles street. Keanu buried his girlfriend in the Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles next to the grave of their stillborn daughter.
18. Reeves had an affair with Jennifer Syme, assistant director to David Lynch and a friend of Keanu's sister, Karina. On January 8, 2000, they were supposed to have a daughter, whom he was going to call Ava Archer Syme-Reeves. But a week before giving birth, the doctor stopped hearing the baby's heartbeat; An ultrasound scan showed that the girl died in the womb, the cause of death was a blood clot in the umbilical cord.
19. Keanu has Canadian and British citizenship.
20. Reeves has three sisters: Kim Reeves (born 1966, Beirut, Lebanon), Karina Miller (born 1976, Toronto, Canada) and Emma Rose Reeves (born 1980, Hawaii). Kim Reeves is an actress who also bred horses.
21. Reeves attended four high schools in five years, including an acting school, from which he was dropped; He began his acting career at the age of 15, participating in stage productions at a local club.
22. After leaving the Catholic Boys' High School, where he played hockey, he entered a free public school, combining his studies and acting. He later dropped out of school without receiving a high school diploma.
23. On the high school hockey team, Keanu was nicknamed "The Wall" by pals for being a top-notch goalkeeper; the future actor worked in a flour store, sharpened skates and was recognized as the MVP (Most Valued Player) in the hockey team of his school.
24. When Reeves first appeared in Hollywood, his agent thought the actor's name was too exotic, so in early films he sometimes appeared in the credits under the names of C.S. Reeves, Norman Reeves or Chuck Speedna.
25. Replaced Val Kilmer as Johnny Mnemonic as he preferred the role of Batman in Batman Forever.
Keanu Reeves is called the saddest actor in Hollywood. His fans even instituted "Keanu Reeves' unofficial cheer day," which is celebrated on June 15th.
Keanu Reeves has experienced many tragedies and disappointments that have taught him to enjoy life. Judge for yourself.
1. Childhood Keanu Reeves was not successful.
His father left the family when the boy was only 3 years old. Now Keanu does not even maintain a relationship with him. Reeves' mom wasn't a present either. She was too busy organizing her personal life and paid little attention to children. The woman could not stay in one place for a long time and was constantly moving. Her relationships with men developed in the same way: Keanu did not have time to get used to one stepfather, as he was replaced by another.
Keanu's parents
Due to such a hectic life of the mother, the boy had to change schools often, which affected his academic performance. The situation was aggravated by dyslexia, which prevented the boy from assimilating the school curriculum. He was always on the lagging list, which affected his self-esteem.
2. He failed to fulfill his cherished dream.
His only joy in childhood was hockey. He could play it for hours and dreamed of becoming a professional hockey player. At school, he received the nickname Wall, since, as a goalkeeper, he did not miss a single puck. Unfortunately, a leg injury canceled his dream.
3. His best friend died of a drug overdose.
Aspiring actor River Phoenix, with whom Reeves was very friendly, died at the age of 23, having taken a large dose of a narcotic mixture. In 2014, Reeves recalled him in an interview:
"He was a wonderful person and an actor ... I miss him and think about him often."
4. He lost his only child.
At one of the parties, he met David Lynch's assistant, 26-year-old Jennifer Syme. A spark flashed between the young people, and soon they began an affair.
Jennifer Syme
Jennifer got pregnant. The couple was looking forward to the birth of their baby, they were making plans for the future, going to get married ... When it became known that they would have a daughter, the parents decided to name her Ava Archer. But a week before the birth, a misfortune happened: the little girl's little heart stopped beating ... Jennifer had to give birth to a dead child.
“The doctors decided to artificially stimulate labor. I was there and saw everything with my own eyes ... It's not fair! "
All this happened on the eve of Christmas, so Keanu does not like this holiday. Now he is not associated with gifts, colorful garlands and magic ...
5. His beloved woman died.
After the tragedy, Keanu and Jennifer drifted apart. He plunged headlong into work, and she tried to drown her grief in alcohol and drugs. On April 1, 2001, returning from a party, she crashed into three cars and flew out of her car. Death came instantly. She was buried next to her daughter. Keanu was crushed. Jennifer's mother said:
"I thought that Keanu did not love my daughter enough, but when I saw him at the funeral, I realized that I was wrong."
6. He used drugs.
After Jennifer's death, he plunged into a deep depression, which he tried to get rid of with the help of cocaine. Fortunately, he managed to pull himself together.
7. His sister is sick with leukemia.
With his sister, Kim Keanu was very friendly since childhood. Once the adults jokingly told him that they were going to be separated: Kim would live with her grandmother in Hawaii. Hearing this, Keanu cried for a whole day.
Kim's diagnosis of leukemia was a real blow for Keanu. He spent a lot of money on his sister's treatment, if her condition worsened, the actor dropped everything and rushed to her. The fight against the disease lasted more than 10 years. At the moment, it is known that the disease has receded.
8. He avoids serious relationships.
Tragedies with Kim, Jennifer and Ava Archer knocked down the actor. He is afraid to start a serious relationship, fearing that he might harm those he loves.
"Once - a case, and three - already a system"
According to the actor's friends, he immediately breaks off relationships with women when he feels more than simple sympathy for them.
9. He has a monstrously low self-esteem.
As proof, we will cite several statements of the actor.
“I am ugly and asexual. But even more hopeless "
"I hope that someday I will become a good actor"
"I'm dumb. And I can't do anything about it "
“I'm pretty boring. All I do is read, play hockey, and play music.
10. He will never have children.
The actor believes that his time is wasted. In a recent, he said:
"Too late. Its end. I'm 52, and I'm not going to become a father ... "
