Watch rare footage of a pre-fame Keanu Reeves open up about his big break
Keanu Reeves has always been known as one of Hollywood’s most reserved and humble stars. Despite appearing in countless critically and commercially successful films, such as My Own Private Idaho, The Matrix, and John Wick, Reeves has kept a low profile, revealing little about himself to the public. Simultaneously, his chilled-out persona and charity work have told the internet everything they need to know about Reeves – frequently labelling him one of the nicest guys in Hollywood.
It seems as though fame has never gone to Reeves’ head. Perhaps this is because Reeves has been through a lot of hardship in his life, which has kept him grounded in reality. Two years after Reeves and his partner Jennifer Symes lost a baby due to premature birth, Symes was tragically killed in a car accident. Reeves’ sister was diagnosed with leukaemia, which led to him becoming her primary caregiver as she slowly recovered. He also saw the devastating effects of excess rampant in Hollywood when his best friend River Phoenix overdosed outside of Johnny Depp’s Viper Room club in 1993.
In a rare clip from 1985, you can watch a fresh-faced 20-year-old Reeves interviewed by CBC on the set of one of his first films with a significant role, Young Again, a made-for-television movie that formed part of The Disney Sunday Movie series.
The pre-fame Reeves enthusiastically discusses his leading role in Young Again, acting as though he’s already landed a role as big as his one in The Matrix. Beaming with excitement, he admits, “it’s hard” before explaining: “I’m playing a 17-year-old body with a 40-year-old mind. But then I had to play with my conception of 40, which was sort of older, right? You look at a 40-year-old and go, ‘you’re old!’ […] but he’s not. Robert Urich […] is a bouncy guy!”
One of the actor’s first screen appearances was in 1984 as a correspondent for the Nickelodeon show Going Great before making his acting debut in a show called Hangin’ In later in the year.
After starring in a short film called One Step Away, Reeves appeared in several television films before making his motion picture debut in 1986’s Youngblood. Reeves made steady progress over the next few years before landing a supporting role in Stephen Frears’ Oscar-winning period drama Dangerous Liaisons. Then he scored a leading role in the slacker comedy Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, which has since spawned two sequels. Since then, Reeves has continued to land high-profile acting gigs, most recently working on John Wick: Chapter 4, which will be released next year.
The interviewer ends the clip by saying, “We look forward to seeing you in other things,” unaware that Reeves would become one of Hollywood’s most prominent actors.
