The incredible proof that Keanu Reeves is the greatest actor in Hollywood
Keanu Reeves has seen it all. He’s a true Hollywood icon, having dipped his toes into the pools of comedy with his breakthrough role in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. In addition, he has also taken on serious dramatic roles in independent cinema, such as in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho.
Reeves also established himself as a viable action hero, with acclaimed performances in the surf-cop action flick Point Break, as well as in Speed and the recent John Wick film series. However, Reeves’ most prominent role is, without doubt, as the world’s saviour Neo in the sci-fi cyberpunk film series The Matrix.
Yet despite all these highly-lauded filmic ventures, Keanu Reeves is also known for his kindness and generosity within the film industry, using his position of power and wealth to give to charities and those less fortunate than he is.
For starters, Reeves is the head of a private cancer research foundation that also benefits children’s hospitals. In a showing of utter altruism, Reeves said, “I don’t like to attach my name to it; I just let the foundation do what it does”. In the 1990s, Reeves’ sister had been diagnosed with leukaemia but fortunately reached the remission stage later in the decade.
Reeves also views his work as being more significant than he is. When he was entitled to a share of the profits after the astronomical success of The Matrix, he decided to plough his share back into the franchise so that there would be more funds available to the special effects and costume departments. After all, what is The Matrix without the glorious SFX and clothing it boasts?
What’s more, after The Matrix shot into global fame, Reeves generously gave each member of the film’s stunt team a brand new Harley-Davidson motorbike. Reeves said: “We were all in this thing, and we were training together beforehand. I just wanted to give a bigger thank you to all these guys who helped me make this, I think, one of the great movie fights in the history of cinema”.
That was not the first time that Reeves decided to give up what was rightfully his for the greater good of a film. When he passed his audition for the 1997 horror film The Devil’s Advocate, Reeves took a healthy pay cut for the producers to afford to bring Al Pacino on board. Then, in 2000, he took another pay cut so Gene Hackman could be tempted to join the cast of The Replacements.
In your eyes, if Reeves wasn’t already one of the biggest heroes of modern cinema for his awkward acting style and astonishing proficiency at performing stunts, then he ought to be now. In the words of the man himself, “Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I have already made for the next few centuries”.
A true gentleman with a passion for cinema.
