Although gifted with a Hawaiian first name that loosely translates to “cool wind over the mountain”, life has been far from a breeze for Reeves, who turns 55 this September. His English showgirl-turned-costume-designer mother split from his Asian-American geologist father when he was just three years old, with Reeves Senior permanently exiting the picture 10 years later. At the age of 17, following a nomadic childhood and an early adolescence that saw him live as far afield as Sydney, New York and Toronto, he headed off to Hollywood with very little to lose. By then, much to the disappointment of the maternal grandparents who had largely brought him up, he had already been expelled from high school. To this day, he is yet to officially finish school.

Despite working on his thespianic credentials since the age of nine, having appeared in countless theatrical productions, he didn’t, however, register on the Hollywood star Richter scale until 1989, when he played the eponymous Ted in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, a time travel comedy that remains a cult favourite and which, in 1991, gave rise to its own, equally lauded sequel, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. 

It was while riding high as MTV’s 1993 Most Desirable Man that tragedy once again crossed his path, with his close pal and former co-star River Phoenix dying of an overdose at just 23. Clearly still feeling the shock waves more than 20 years later, Reeves told one interviewer in 2014: “River was a remarkable human being and actor. We got along very well and I miss him. I think of him often.”

To many, it seemed that Reeves threw himself into a series of even bigger projects in the wake of the tragedy, landing his most high-profile role to date in 1994’s action-drama Speed, however, just three year later he surprised the studio he turned down the role for the films sequel Speed 2. This, though, would come to be seen as a signature move by Reeves, as he has, since then, frequently ducked big-buck offers in favour of playing roles he coveted or working with actors he admired – notably Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate and Gene Hackman in The Replacements. It also led to him to negotiate a highly-unusual profit sharing deal for The Matrix and its sequels, which saw him take a pay cut to ensure the franchise’s special effects and costume designs remained cutting-edge, and later donating US$75 million to be shared between the production team as a sign of his appreciation.

 

While riding high on the acclaim occasioned by the first Matrix film, fate dealt Reeves another bitter blow when the daughter he was to have with Jennifer Syme, his production assistant girlfriend, was delivered stillborn. Not surprisingly, the subsequent grief put a huge strain on the couple’s relationship, which ultimately ended in Syme’s death two years later in a calamitous car accident. With blow piling on blow, that same year – 2001 – saw his half sister Kim diagnosed with leukemia, a condition that would take the best part of 10 years to overcome.

Perhaps reflecting his own turmoil, the next decade saw Reeves increasingly drawn to playing complex, troubled men. In 2005, he took the title role in Constantine, an occult detective film based on DC Comics’ Hellblazer comic book series, while 2008 saw him memorably play an alien messenger in a remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, a ’50s cult favourite. Reeves’ most ubiquitous role in the opening decade of the 21st century, however, was arguably Sad Keanu, a paparazzi-snapped meme that caught the then-middle aged actor alone and forlorn on a park bench, with just a half-eaten sandwich for company.

Then came 2013, the year Reeves took on the title role in John Wick, the film that arguably resurrected his career and saw him once again embrace the action hero mantle he had once so memorably discarded. Bringing the reluctantly unretired assassin to the big screen proved a natural fit with the actor’s innate stoicism and fondness for wry humour, with the casting proving to be box office gold.

In addition to his natural affinity for characters with a dark side, many have speculated that Reeves’ own personal tragedies gifted his depiction of Wick with unusual depth. Seemingly confirming this in a 2006 interview, he said: “Grief changes shape, but it never ends. People have a misconception that you can deal with it and, one day, say: ‘It’s gone, and I’m better’. They’re wrong. When the people you love are gone, you really are alone.” As to whether his renewed success has lightened his load at all, that will have to remain a matter of conjecture. He has, however, green-lit a return to two of his greatest hits, with Bill and Ted 3 (apparently called Bill and Ted Go to Hell) already in production and rumours growing of a return of The Matrix sometime soon. And Speed 3? Well, even for the rejuvenated Keanu Reeves, it’s safe to assume that some things are just beyond redemption…

Text: Bailey Atkinson
Photos: AFP

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