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Keanu Reeves

 
Who2 Biography: Keanu Reeves, Actor
 
Keanu Reeves
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  • Born: 2 September 1964
  • Birthplace: Beirut, Lebanon
  • Best Known As: Neo in The Matrix film trilogy

Keanu Reeves played the messianic hero Neo in the sci-fi film The Matrix and its two sequels, which together became one of the highest-grossing film series in history. After his early success in the wacky 1988 comedy Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure, Reeves was pegged by most as a surfer dude or slacker type. He managed to fight his way into mainstream roles, breaking through as a leading man by playing a cop in the blockbuster Speed (1994, with Sandra Bullock). He fortified his reputation as a hunky hero in movies like The Matrix series (1999-2003, with Laurence Fishburne) and the football comedy The Replacements (2000). Critics love to harsh on Reeves's acting ability, pointing to such films as Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula (1992) and Chain Reaction (1996, with Morgan Freeman), but he remains a big draw at the box office. His other films include Johnny Mnemonic (1995, from a story by William Gibson), Devil's Advocate (1997, opposite Al Pacino), The Gift (2000, starring Cate Blanchett), the time-travel romance The Lake House (2006, reuniting him with co-star Bullock), and the sci-fi tale A Scanner Darkly (2006, based on the novel by Philip K. Dick).

It's true: Reeves is a high school dropout...Reeves has played bass guitar in the rock band Dogstar.

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Actor: Keanu Reeves
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  • Born: Sep 02, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '80s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
  • Career Highlights: Speed, Dangerous Liaisons, River's Edge
  • First Major Screen Credit: Going Great (1982)

Biography

From lamebrained teenage time traveler to metaphysical sci-fi Superman, Keanu Reeves has portrayed just about every character type imaginable in his sometimes wildly fluctuating career. Frequently lambasted by critics and often polarizing audiences suspicious of his talent's true extent, Reeves has nevertheless managed to maintain his lucrative career by balancing his lesser efforts with intermittent direct hits at the box office.

Born in Keanu Charles Reeves in Beirut, Lebanon, in September of 1964 and named for the Hawaiian word that means "cool breeze over the mountains," the future actor was a world traveler by the age of two, thanks to his father's career as a geologist. His mother, Patricia Taylor, worked as a showgirl and later a costume designer of film and stage, and after his parents divorced, Reeves followed his mother and sister to live in New York; the trio would later relocate to Toronto -- where Reeves' interest in ice hockey and acting took a substantial precedence over academics. His formidable presence in front of the goal eventually earned Reeves the nickname "The Wall," and it wasn't long before all interest in school waned and the talented goalie decided to pursue acting.

Later working as a manager in a Toronto pasta shop, Reeves soon began turning up in small roles on various Canadian television programs, making his feature debut in the 1985 Canadian film One Step Away before American audiences got their first good look at him in the 1986 Rob Lowe drama Youngblood. Subsequently going back to television and garnering favorable notice for his role in 1986's Young Again, it was the release of Tim Hunter's The River's Edge later that year that would provide Reeves with his breakthrough role. A harrowing tale of teen apathy in small town America, The River's Edge provided Reeves with a perfect opportunity to display his dramatic range, and the film would eventually become a minor classic in teen angst cinema.

Appearing in a series of sometimes quirky but ultimately forgettable efforts in the following few years, 1988 found Reeves drawing favorable nods for his role in director Stephen Frears' Dangerous Liaisons. It was the following year's Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, however, that would transform the actor into something of an '80s icon. Reeves' performance of a moronic, air guitar wielding wannabe rocker traveling through time in order to complete his history report and graduate from high school proved so endearingly silly that it spawned both a sequel (1991's Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) and a Saturday morning cartoon. In an odd twist of fate, Reeves and co-star Alex Winter had initially auditioned for the opposite roles from those in which they were ultimately cast. Though he would later offer variations of the character type in such efforts as Parenthood (1989) and I Love You to Death (1990), it wasn't long before Reeves was looking to break away from the trend and take his career to the next level.

After drawing favorable reviews for his turn as a rich kid turned street hustler opposite River Phoenix in Gus Van Sant's 1991 drama My Own Private Idaho, Reeves battled the undead in Francis Ford Coppola's lavish production of Dracula (1992). Showing his loyalty toward fellow Bill and Ted cohort Winter with a hilarious extended cameo in Freaked the following year, Reeves once again teamed with Van Sant for the critically eviscerated Even Cowgirls Get the Blues before surprising audiences with an unexpectedly complex performance as Siddhartha in Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha (1993).

Just as audiences were beginning to ask themselves if they may have underestimated Reeves talent as an actor, the mid-'90s found his career taking an unexpected turn toward action films with the release of Jan de Bont's 1994 mega-hit Speed (Reeves would ultimately decline to appear in the film's disastrous sequel). Balancing out such big-budgeted adrenaline rushes as Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Chain Reaction (1996) with romantic efforts as A Walk in the Clouds (1995) and Feeling Minnesota (1996), Reeves spooked audiences as a moral attorney suffering from a major case of soul corrosion in the 1997 horror thriller The Devil's Advocate. The late '90s also found Reeves suffering a devastating personal loss when his expected baby girl with longtime girlfriend Jennifer Syme was stillborn, marking the beginning of the end for the couple's relationship. Tragedy stacked upon tragedy when Syme died two short years later in a tragic freeway accident. His career in fluctuation due to the lukewarm response to the majority of his mid-'90s efforts, it was the following year that would find Reeves entering into one of the most successful stages of his career thus far.

As Neo, the computer hacker who discovers that he may be humankind's last hope in the forthcoming war against an oppressive mainframe of computers, Reeves' popularity once again reached feverish heights thanks to The Wachowski Brothers' wildly imaginative and strikingly visual sci-fi breakthrough, The Matrix. Followed by such moderately successful films as The Replacements (for which he deferred his salary so that Gene Hackman could also appear) and The Watcher (both 2000), Reeves took an unexpectedly convincing turn as an abusive husband in Sam Raimi's The Gift before returning to familiar territory with Sweet November and Hardball (both 2001). With the cultural phenomenon of The Matrix only growing as a comprehensive DVD release offered obsessive fans a closer look into the mythology of the film, it wasn't long before The Wachowski Brothers announced that the film had originally been conceived as the beginning of a trilogy and that two sequels were in the works. Filmed back to back, and with both scheduled to hit screens in 2003, excitement over The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions began to reach feverish heights in the months before release, virtually ensuring that the films would become two of the year's biggest box-office draws; they delivered on this promise despite mixed critical receptions.

Reeves ensured his liberation from typecasting with a drastic turn away from The Matrix as the curtain fell on 2003, by appearing as heartthrob Dr. Julian Mercer in Nancy Meyers's romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give. Although he played second fiddle to vets Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, Reeves scored a bullseye, especially with female viewers. In 2005, he joined the cast of the collegiate arthouse hit Thumbsucker as Perry Lyman and fought the denizens of hell in the occultic thriller Constantine. Reeves's 2006 roles included the animated Robert Arctor in Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly and Alex Burnham in Alejandro Aresti's romantic fantasy The Lake House (co-starring Sandra Bullock.

Famously playing bass for the band Dogstar in his cinematic down time, Reeves' other personal interests include motorcycles, horseback riding, and surfing. When he's not filming, Reeves maintains an everpresent residence in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
 
Quotes By: Keanu Reeves
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Quotes:

"I'm a meathead. I can't help it, man. You've got smart people and you've got dumb people."

 
Wikipedia: Keanu Reeves
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Keanu Reeves

Reeves at The Lake House London premiere in September 2006
Born Keanu Charles Reeves
September 2, 1964 (1964-09-02) (age 44)
Beirut, Lebanon
Occupation Actor
Years active 1985–present

Keanu Charles Reeves (pronounced /keˈɑːnuː/ [kay-AH-noo, often mispronounced as kee-AH-noo]; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian-American-British actor best known for his portrayals of Ted Logan in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, Officer Jack Traven in Speed, and Neo in the action film trilogy The Matrix. Other notable roles include starring as Siddhartha Gautama in Little Buddha; as Scott Favor in the drama My Own Private Idaho opposite River Phoenix; as the title character in the sci-fi film Johnny Mnemonic opposite Dolph Lundgren; as Kevin Lomax in the supernatural thriller The Devil's Advocate opposite Al Pacino; the chevalier Danceny in Dangerous Liaisons; and starring roles in Chain Reaction, Constantine and the surf drama Point Break opposite Patrick Swayze. He played bass guitar in the grunge band Dogstar during the 1990s, and more recently in the band Becky. In an ET online survey in 2006, he was included in the "Top Ten of America's Favorite Stars". On January 31, 2005, Reeves received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of Patricia Bond (née Taylor), a costume designer/performer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr., a geologist.[1] Reeves's mother is English, and his father is an American of Hawaiian and Chinese descent. Reeves's mother was working in Beirut when she met his father. Reeves' father worked as an unskilled laborer and earned his GED while imprisoned in Hawaiʻi for selling heroin at Hilo International Airport.[2] He abandoned his wife and family when Reeves was three years old, and Reeves does not currently have any relationship with him.[3] Reeves is named after his uncle, Henry Keanu Reeves. Keanu is a Hawaiian word which means cool breeze over the mountains. 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 was sometimes credited as K.C. Reeves.

Reeves has one biological sister named Kim (born 1966 in Australia) who was diagnosed with leukemia in the early 1990s. Additionally, through his mother he has a half-sister named Karina Miller (born 1976 in Toronto) and through his father another half-sister named Emma Rose Reeves (born 1980 in Hawaiʻi).

Reeves experienced an unstable childhood moving around the world frequently and living with various stepfathers. His parents divorced in 1966. His mother became a costume designer and moved the family to Australia and then to New York City. There she met and married Paul Aaron, a Broadway and Hollywood director. The couple moved to Toronto but divorced in 1971. Reeves' mother then married Robert Miller, a rock promoter, in 1976, but the couple divorced in 1980. Her fourth husband, Jack Bond, was a hairdresser. That marriage broke up in 1994. Grandparents and nannies babysat Reeves and his sisters.

Reeves grew up primarily in Toronto. Within a span of five years, he attended four different high schools, including the Etobicoke School of the Arts, from which he was later expelled. Half-jokingly, Reeves says that he was expelled "because I was greasy and running around a lot. I was just a little too rambunctious and shot my mouth off once too often. I was not generally the most well-oiled machine in the school. I was just getting in their way, I guess."

Reeves excelled more in hockey than in academics, as his educational development was challenged by dyslexia. He was a successful goalie at one of his high schools (De La Salle College "Oaklands"). His team nicknamed him "The Wall," and voted him MVP. Reeves says that he would dream of becoming an Olympic hockey player for Canada. After leaving De La Salle College, he attended a free school (Avondale Alternative), which allowed him to obtain an education while working as an actor; he later dropped out, never obtaining his high school diploma.

Career

Reeves began his acting career at the age of nine. He appeared on stage at a production of Damn Yankees. At 15, he played Mercutio in a stage production of Romeo and Juliet at the Leah Posluns Theatre. Reeves made his screen acting debut in a CBC Television comedy series, Hangin' In. Throughout the early 1980s, he appeared in commercials (including one for Coca-Cola), short films including the NFB drama One Step Away[4] and stage work such as Brad Fraser's cult hit Wolf Boy in Toronto. In 1984, he was a correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation TV youth program Going Great.[5]

Reeves' first studio movie appearance was in the Rob Lowe ice hockey film Youngblood, which was filmed in Canada. In it, he played a Québécois goalie. Shortly after the movie's release, Reeves drove to Los Angeles in his 1969 Volvo. His ex-stepfather Paul Aaron, a stage and television director, had convinced Erwin Stoff to be Reeves' manager and agent before he even arrived in Los Angeles. Stoff has remained Reeves' manager, and has coproduced many of his films.

After a few minor roles, Reeves received a more sizable role in 1986's River's Edge. Following the film's success, he spent the late 1980s appearing in a number of movies aimed at teenage audiences, including Permanent Record, and the unexpectedly successful 1989 comedy, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, which, along with its 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, typecast Reeves as a sweet-natured teen. Much of his subsequent portrayal in the press and much of the response to his acting has been influenced by his portrayal of the airheaded Ted. Reeves has said, "I used to have nightmares that they would put 'He played Ted' on my tombstone".[citation needed]

During the early 1990s, Reeves started to break out of his teen-film period. He appeared in high-budget action films like Point Break, for which he won MTV's "Most Desirable Male" award in 1992. He was also involved in various lower-budget independent films, including the well-received 1991 film, My Own Private Idaho with his close friend, the late River Phoenix.[citation needed]

In 1994, Reeves' career reached a new high as a result of his starring role in the action film Speed. His casting in the film was controversial since, except for Point Break, he was primarily known for comedies and indie dramas. He had never been the sole headliner on a film. The summer action film had a fairly large budget and was helmed by novice cinematographer-turned-director Jan de Bont. The unexpected international success of the film made Reeves and co-star Sandra Bullock into A-List stars.

Reeves' career choices after Speed were eclectic: despite his successes, Reeves has never stopped accepting supporting roles, and he has always been willing to support experimental efforts. He scored a hit with a romantic lead role in A Walk in the Clouds. He made news by refusing to take part in Speed 2: Cruise Control and choosing to play the title role in a Manitoba Theatre Centre production of Hamlet in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Reeves got surprisingly good reviews for his interpretation of one of Shakespeare's most famous characters. Roger Lewis, the Sunday Times critic, wrote, "He quite embodied the innocence, the splendid fury, the animal grace of the leaps and bounds, the emotional violence, that form the Prince of Denmark...He is one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he * is* Hamlet."

Reeves' other choices after A Walk in the Clouds, however, failed with critics and audiences. Big-budget films such as Johnny Mnemonic and Chain Reaction were critically panned and failed at the box office, while indie films like Feeling Minnesota were also critical failures.

Reeves started to climb out of his career low after starring in the horror/drama The Devil's Advocate alongside Al Pacino and Charlize Theron. Reeves deferred his salary for The Devil's Advocate so that Pacino would be cast, as he would do later for the less successful The Replacements, guaranteeing the casting of Gene Hackman. The Devil's Advocate did well at the box office, received good reviews, and proved that Reeves could play a grown-up with a career although many critics felt that his poor performance detracted from an otherwise enjoyable movie.

Reeves with Scott Derrickson promoting The Day the Earth Stood Still at Mexico in 2008.

The 1999 science fiction hit, The Matrix, solidified Reeves's place as an international superstar. In between the first Matrix film and its sequels, Reeves received positive reviews for his portrayal of an abusive husband in The Gift. Aside from The Gift, Reeves appeared in several films that received mostly negative reviews and unimpressive box office grosses, including The Watcher, Sweet November and The Replacements. However, the two Matrix sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Something's Gotta Give, and the 2005 horror-action film, Constantine, proved to be box office successes and brought Reeves back into the public spotlight. His 2006 film, A Scanner Darkly, based on the science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick, received favorable reviews, and The Lake House, his romantic outing with Sandra Bullock, did not do well at the box office.[citation needed]

Reeves played the main character in two 2008 films, Street Kings and The Day the Earth Stood Still. In February 2009 The Private Life of Pippa Lee -where Reeves starred alongside with Robin Wright Penn, Julianne Moore, Alan Arkin, Winona Ryder, Maria Bello, Monica Bellucci, Zoe Kazan, Ryan McDonald, Blake Lively, Robin Weigert-, was presented at Berlinale.

In January 2009, it was revealed that Reeves will star in the live-action film adaptation of the anime series Cowboy Bebop,[6][7] slated for release in 2011.

Other rumoured upcoming projects include the samurai film 47 Ronin, Chef - story by Reeves and written by Steven Knight - and as producer and star for the space drama Passengers, written by Jon Spaihts.[8]

Personal life

For nearly a decade following his initial rise to stardom, Reeves preferred to live in rented homes and hotels and was a long term resident of the Chateau Marmont. Reeves bought his first house in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles around 2003, and also has an apartment on Central Park West in New York City.

Although born in Lebanon, Reeves is not a Lebanese citizen, because his parents were not Lebanese. Instead, he is a naturalized Canadian citizen who also holds American and British citizenship through the principle of Jus sanguinis.

Reeves has never been married. 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.[9] She was buried next to their daughter in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

In 2008 Reeves was sued, unsuccessfully in Los Angeles Superior Court for $711,974[10] by paparazzo Alison Silva for allegedly hitting and injuring him with his Porsche after visiting a relative at a Los Angeles medical facility.[11][12] The paparazzo's lawsuit took a year and a half to make it to trial, with all 12 jurors rejecting the case in just over an hour.[13]

Filmography

Year Film Role
1985 Letting Go Stereo Teen #1
One Step Away Ron Petrie
1986 Youngblood Heaver
Flying Tommy Wernicke
Young Again Mike Riley, age 17
Under the Influence Eddie Talbot
Act of Vengeance Buddy Martin
River's Edge Matt
Brotherhood of Justice Derek
Babes in Toyland Jack
1988 Permanent Record Chris Townsend
The Prince of Pennsylvania Rupert Marshetta
The Night Before Winston Connelly
Dangerous Liaisons Le Chevalier Raphael Danceny
1989 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Ted "Theodore" Logan
Parenthood Tod Higgins
1990 I Love You to Death Marlon James
Tune in Tomorrow Martin Loader
1991 Point Break FBI Special Agent John 'Johnny' Utah
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Ted "Theodore" Logan/Evil Ted
My Own Private Idaho Scott Favor
Providence Eric
1992 Bram Stoker's Dracula Jonathan Harker
1993 Much Ado About Nothing Don John
Little Buddha Prince Siddhartha/Lord Buddha
Poetic Justice Homeless Man (Uncredited)
Freaked Ortiz the Dog Boy (Uncredited)
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues Julian Gitche
1994 Speed Officer Jack Traven
1995 Johnny Mnemonic Johnny
A Walk in the Clouds Sgt. Paul Sutton
1996 Chain Reaction Eddie Kasalivich
Feeling Minnesota Jjaks Clayton
1997 The Last Time I Committed Suicide Harry
The Devil's Advocate Kevin Lomax
1999 The Matrix Thomas Anderson/Neo
Me and Will Himself
2000 The Replacements Shane Falco
The Watcher David Allen Griffin
The Gift Donnie Barksdale
2001 Sweet November Nelson Moss
Hardball Conor O'Neill
2003 The Matrix Reloaded Thomas Anderson/Neo
The Animatrix Thomas Anderson/Neo
The Matrix Revolutions Thomas Anderson/Neo
Something's Gotta Give Dr. Julian Mercer
2005 Constantine John Constantine
Thumbsucker Perry Lyman
Ellie Parker Himself
2006 The Lake House Alex Wyler
A Scanner Darkly Bob Arctor
2008 Street Kings Detective Tom Ludlow
The Day the Earth Stood Still Klaatu
2009 The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Chris Nadeau
2010 Passengers Jim Preston
2010 Cartagena Character Unknown
2011 Jekyll Dr. Jekyll
2011 Cowboy Bebop Spike Spiegel[6][7]

References

  1. ^ "Keanu Reeves Biography (1964-)". Film Reference. http://www.filmreference.com/film/25/Keanu-Reeves.html. Retrieved on May 10, 2008. 
  2. ^ Ryan, Tim. "Memories of Keanu". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. http://starbulletin.com/2001/04/22/features/story1.html. Retrieved on December 12, 2008. 
  3. ^ Ryan, Tim (April 22, 2001). "Memories of Keanu". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. http://starbulletin.com/2001/04/22/features/story1.html. Retrieved on May 10, 2008. 
  4. ^ "One Step Away". NFB. http://www.nfb.ca/trouverunfilm/fichefilm.php?id=16124&v=h&lg=en&exp=. Retrieved on May 10, 2008. 
  5. ^ YouTube clip CBC RetroBites: Keanu Reeves.
  6. ^ a b Kit, Borys (January 16, 2009). "Reeves Leads Cast of Futuristic Bebop". Reuters UK. http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKTRE50F0NE20090116. 
  7. ^ a b Siegel, Tatiana (January 15, 2009). "Keanu Reeves set for 'Bebop'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998641.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved on May 31, 2009. 
  8. ^ Sciretta, Peter (December 9, 2007). "The Hottest Unproduced Screenplays of 2007". Slashfilm. http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/12/09/the-hottest-unproduced-screenplays-of-2007. 
  9. ^ "Marilyn Manson Accused Of Contributing To Friend's Death". VH1. http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1453249/20020403/marilyn_manson.jhtml. Retrieved on May 10, 2008. 
  10. ^ Lang, Derrik J (November 3, 2008). "Keanu Reeves Wins Court Case, Photographer Gets Nothing". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/03/keanu-reeves-wins-court-c_n_140566.html. 
  11. ^ "Keanu courts humor against paparazzo". New York Daily News. October 29, 2008. http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/10/29/2008-10-29_keanu_courts_humor_against_paparazzo.html. 
  12. ^ "Paparazzo says Reeves hit him with car". USA Today. November 5, 2007. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/2007-11-05-1886701108_x.htm. 
  13. ^ Ryan, Harriet (November 4, 2008). "Keanu Reeves cleared in paparazzo lawsuit". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/nov/04/local/me-reeves4. 

Further reading

External links


 
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47 Ronin (2010 Fantasy Film)

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