Despite his beauty and his success in Hollywood on the big screen in films such as “The Matrix,” “Speed,” and “John Wick,” the 54-year-old Keanu Reeves’s life in one word can be described as tragic.
His father left his family when Keanu was only three. He changed four different schools in his teenage years while struggling with dyslexia. He graduated but lost his friend at the age of 23 to a drug overdose. Keanu’s first child was miscarried and the love of his life died in a car accident. When it seemed that things couldn’t get any worse, Keanu’s sister was diagnosed with leukemia.
His life’s tragedies gave him strength to give back and help others. His sister recovered and Keanu dedicated his life to helping others.
“Back in the late 90s and fresh out of college I got my first job as an assistant prop designer on the set of Chain Reaction (Keanu was a supporting actor with Morgan Freeman)”, one of the Reddit users shared.
“Every day for the last few weeks of filming, Keanu treated the stage hands and ‘grunt workers’ (including myself) by taking us out for free breakfast and lunch. He was genuinely a very nice guy to work with.
“Since then, I’ve worked on about 30 different sets and have never met an actor as generous and friendly as him. Most actors I’ve seen and worked with are total [expletive] who always think they are better than us. Keanu on the other hand, at the very least, was socially approachable and definitely kindhearted.”
This is only one story out of many and the actor never makes it a public relations stunt. He does not need to be recognized for his charity.
According to Snopes, in 2009 he told the Ladies’ Home Journal: “I have a private foundation that’s been running for five or six years, and it helps aid a couple of children’s hospitals and cancer research. I don’t like to attach my name to it; I just let the foundation do what it does.”
And that it that.
Reeves also donated to SCORE (Spinal Cord Opportunities for Rehabilitation Endowment), a charity founded after a UCLA hockey player’s spinal cord was crushed in a post-season game.
Reeves gave portion of his proceeds from the Matrix trilogy back to the franchise to fund the costume and special effects teams. He negotiated a pay cut on the films “The Devil’s Advocate” and “The Replacements” so the projects could hire big name stars Al Pacino and Gene Hackman.
Reeves has admitted that he does not equate money with happiness.
“For me, I guess I don’t connect the enjoyment and the money,” he told the New York Post in 2000. “I work on a part and hopefully realize a part, and make good films. Some of the successes I’ve had I’m grateful for, because it creates other opportunities. [The way] I look at it is I get to act again.”
Known for his signature lace-up leather brief, the former Balmain embellishment expert launched his label in 2017 and has captured industry attention for his exploration of sex and sexuality through clothing.