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Trivia
Birth name: Keanu Charles Reeves
Date of birth: 2 September 1964
Place of birth: Beirut, Lebanon
Nickname: The Wall (due to his position in ice hockey)
Height: 6' 1" (1.85 m)
Chosen by
"People" magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in
the world. [1995]
Ranked #23 in Empire (UK)
magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
[October 1997]
Arrested in Los Angeles;
charged with drunk driving. [May 1993]
Loves Ballroom dancing.
He owns at least two
Norton Commandos whose engines were available in both 750cc and 850cc
capacities, the high compression version being the Combat Commando.
Sisters are Karina and
Kim.
Named after his great,
great-uncle.
His step-father, Paul
Aaron, is a film and stage Director.
Had job sharpening ice
skates.
Was nicknamed "the
wall" by high school hockey team De La Salle College "Oaklands".
Father part Chinese part
Hawaiian, Mother English.
Father left the family
when Keanu was very young.
Is left-handed.
Was manager of a pasta
shop in Toronto.
He loves to play ice
hockey (goalie position).
His father was a
geologist. Served time in prison; paroled after serving two years of a
10 year sentence for selling heroin at Hilo Airport in 1992.
His mother, Patricia
Taylor, was a costume designer for rock stars such as Alice
Cooper.
His 1974 motorcycle is
among his most prized possessions.
His name means "cool
breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian.
In Hawaiian, "ke"
means "the" and "anu" means "cool or
coolness"; hence "the coolness" or (very) interpretively,
"the cool winds over the mountain."
Dropped out of high school
when he was 17 to become an actor.
Hobbies include horseback
riding and surfing (both inspired from movie roles).
Was MVP on his high school
hockey team, where he was a goalie.
Keanu got his abdominal
scar from a motorcycle wreck in Topanga Canyon. He was on a "demon
ride" (no headlights at night) when he crashed into the side of a
mountain. He was hospitalized for a week with broken ribs and a ruptured
spleen. When the paramedics came to get him, an emergency medical
technician trainee picked up one end of the stretcher ... then dropped
it by mistake! "It made me laugh, but I couldn't breathe!"
When trying out for the
parts of Bill and Ted in Bill
& Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), each actor was paired up
with another. Keanu Reeves
and Alex Winter were
paired up, Reeves trying out for the part of Bill while Winter tried out
for the part of Ted. They were cast opposite what they auditioned for.
His first name, Keanu, is
pronounced "kay-ah-new".
Chosen by Empire magazine
as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#17). [1995]
Around Christmas 1999, the
baby girl he was expecting with girlfriend Jennifer
Syme was stillborn, just a few weeks shy of the actual delivery
date. They had planned to name her Eva Archer Syme Reeves.
His estranged girlfriend Jennifer
Syme was killed when her Jeep Cherokee careered onto the wrong side
of a Los Angeles road near Highway 101 and smashed into three parked
cars. The force of the crash flipped the car over and she was thrown
through the windshield. She was killed instantly. [2 April 2001]
Maintains Canadian
citizenship and passport.
Has appeared in 3 movies
whose title contains a US state: Feeling
Minnesota (1996), My
Own Private Idaho (1991), and The
Prince of Pennsylvania (1988).
Was set to reprise his
role as Jack Traven in the sequel to Speed - Speed
2: Cruise Control (1997) - but dropped out
Deferred part of his
salary on The
Replacements (2000) so Gene
Hackman could be cast.
Keanu resides in Toronto,
Canada where he grew up
Learned over 200 martial
arts moves for The Matrix
Reloaded (2003).
Musically Keanu is
currently playing (bass) in "Becky" - also featuring Robert
Mailhouse (drums), Paulie Kosta (guitar) and Rebecca Lord (vocals).
Was originally offered the
role of Pvt. Chris Taylor in Platoon
(1986). Keanu turned it down and the role went to Charlie
Sheen.
Was originally cast as
Chris Shiherlis in Heat
(1995) but later backed out of the project, and the part went to Val
Kilmer.
He went to high school at
North Toronto, where his drama teacher was Paul Robert. Mr. Robert now
works at Northern Secondary as a drama teacher.
Shares a birthday with
actress Salma Hayek,
heavyweight boxer Lennox
Lewis and NFL Hall of Fame running back Eric
Dickerson.
Frequently plays man
either strapped or sitting in a chair while some type of procedure is
performed on him. All three Matrix films, Johnny
Mnemonic (1995), Feeling Minnesota (1996) , Dracula (1992) and Constantine
(2005).
Although left-handed,
plays bass with his right.
31st January 2005: Honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
Read the script of Constantine
(2005) while filming The
Matrix Revolutions (2003).
His first theater work was
with Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, Massachusetts in "The
Tempest."
He learned to surf for his
role in Point Break
(1991)
Is very good friends with
his Bill & Ted co-star, Alex
Winter and has remained in contact with him. Keanu has also
contributed cameo appearances and helped with a number of Winter's film
projects.
His best friend is his
sister.
He has recently left the
band "Becky" with former Dogstar band mate Rob Mailhouse, due
to scheduling conflicts.
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