The one and only time Keanu Reeves admitted he was a bad actor: “This godawful job”
It’s a question that’s been repeatedly posed for over 35 years, and it never fails to get a rise out of people because he’s evolved into one of the industry’s most wholesome heroes: Is Keanu Reeves a bad actor?
The short answer is no, he’s not, but it’s more complicated than that. Can he come across as wooden sometimes? Sure, but you can’t stay a star for as long as he has without doing something right, and there aren’t many names in Hollywood who haven’t given at least a handful of subpar performances.
Will he ever win an Academy Award? Almost definitely not, at least not for acting, but maybe he’ll get some love from the Oscars should the next John Wick movie be in contention for the incoming and debuting gong for stunt work. Just because he doesn’t have the same dramatic chops as many of his peers, that doesn’t make him bad at his job.
Reeves is very good at what he does, and what he does best is play strong, silent types who let their expressions and actions do the talking. Give him a five-page monologue, and the chances are high that he’s fucked. However, give him a five-page action scene, and you may have a classic on your hands.
The discourse has surrounded him for so long that he’s long since stopped paying attention, and the easiest way to sum up the Speed, Point Break, and The Matrix star is thus: Is it possible to spend four decades as a household name while simultaneously being a terrible actor?
Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger says yes, but he’s an anomaly, and there have been so many flavours of the month, flashes in the pan, and short-lived superstars to come and go while Reeves has held onto his spot at the top of the mountain that it’s impossible to say he isn’t doing at least a few things right.
However, he did cop to his failings once, but that was a long time ago. Back in 1987, before Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure helped put him on the map, and with only a handful of big-screen credits to his name, Steve Pond asked the fresh-faced Canadian how old he was when he first started acting.
“Well, when I first started… I don’t know if I’m acting now,” he revealed. “I’m pretty bad. I mean, I’m OK, but anyway… I guess 17, 16. My first role was John Proctor from The Crucible. In a girl’s Catholic school. That was my first role. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the role in the play, but it’s pretty heavy.”
Reeves was only 22 at the time, so his career was in its infancy. River’s Edge had recently been released, which gained strong notices, but he clearly didn’t think he was anywhere near the finished article. He was in it for the long haul, nonetheless, saying that although he had other interests, none of them were “as all-consuming as this godawful job.”
