This digital superhero won everyone's heart. Yes, I am talking about the groundbreaking movie of 1999, The Matrix. But that's not all, Keanu has given us many amazing movies right from Point Break, Constantine, A Scanner Darkly, The Devil's Advocate, Speed to his latest movie John Wick.
He can be seen trying his luck in every genre, sometimes he is an exorcist born with the powers to see angels and demons, and sometimes he is a retired hitman seeking vengeance for the theft of his vintage car and killing of his puppy.
Whilst the diversity of his on-screen roles, very few people know the struggles of his off-screen life.
He was very young when his father left. Reeves was born in Lebanon, to a British mother and a Chinese-Hawaiian father. Although nobody knows his exact age when his father abandoned his family. But after the separation, his family moved from one city to another. As a result he had to attend four different high-schools. That's really tough for a youngster, changing too many schools can change you, obviously not in a good way. Isn't it?
The story has more to it. Both Keanu and his sister Kim were dyslexic thus making education a constant struggle.
Kim Reeves, few years younger than Keanu was diagnosed with Leukemia around 1991. And brother Keanu supported her throughout her illness.
It is claimed that Keanu donated 70% of his earnings from the movie Matrix to numerous Cancer Charities and Research Institutes. In an article published in 2009, Keanu said that he had started a private charitable foundation. Keanu certainly has a selfless, noble heart.
In 1993, Keanu's best friend River Phoenix passed away due to a drug overdose. Phoenix was just 23. It is definitely a heart wrenching feeling, losing a best friend is like losing a part of your own self. They could be seen together in the movie "My own Private Idaho."
In 1998 he met Jennifer Syme. In no time, the two fell in love and by 1999 she was pregnant with his daughter. After a long time, Keanu had a ray of happiness in his life. But destiny had something else planned for Keanu. In Syme's eight month of pregnancy, their child was stillborn. The death of their daughter shook them and the family was torn apart. They got separated soon after it but decided to stay close. Just 18 months later Syme died in a car accident.
Reeves reportedly told parade magazine in 2006:
Yes, Keanu may be surrounded by death, but even in his darkest of times he has learned to find happiness and move on. Because happiness for him is very basic. In an interview in 1995 he was asked to define happiness and his definition was pretty simple:
When it comes to family and friends, everyone is generous but Keanu is a little too different. He has helped many people outside his circle. People have shared their personal accounts of Keanu's kindness on the internet. A few years ago, Redditor Kahi made the following comment in a thread about the #SadKeanu meme:
I mean literally who does that! Keanu is definitely the person to look up to.
We can learn many things from him like finding happiness in the simplest of things and most importantly, death is not the opposite of life but a part of it. Keanu Reeves is a true inspiration. Instead of his net worth of $350 million, it is his words that caught my attention:
He can be seen trying his luck in every genre, sometimes he is an exorcist born with the powers to see angels and demons, and sometimes he is a retired hitman seeking vengeance for the theft of his vintage car and killing of his puppy.
Whilst the diversity of his on-screen roles, very few people know the struggles of his off-screen life.
 |
| Image Source: pcwallart |
He was very young when his father left. Reeves was born in Lebanon, to a British mother and a Chinese-Hawaiian father. Although nobody knows his exact age when his father abandoned his family. But after the separation, his family moved from one city to another. As a result he had to attend four different high-schools. That's really tough for a youngster, changing too many schools can change you, obviously not in a good way. Isn't it?
 |
| Image source: keanumania |
The story has more to it. Both Keanu and his sister Kim were dyslexic thus making education a constant struggle.
Kim Reeves, few years younger than Keanu was diagnosed with Leukemia around 1991. And brother Keanu supported her throughout her illness.
It is claimed that Keanu donated 70% of his earnings from the movie Matrix to numerous Cancer Charities and Research Institutes. In an article published in 2009, Keanu said that he had started a private charitable foundation. Keanu certainly has a selfless, noble heart.
 |
| Image Source: stars.123encore |
In 1993, Keanu's best friend River Phoenix passed away due to a drug overdose. Phoenix was just 23. It is definitely a heart wrenching feeling, losing a best friend is like losing a part of your own self. They could be seen together in the movie "My own Private Idaho."
 |
| Image source: famousfix |
In 1998 he met Jennifer Syme. In no time, the two fell in love and by 1999 she was pregnant with his daughter. After a long time, Keanu had a ray of happiness in his life. But destiny had something else planned for Keanu. In Syme's eight month of pregnancy, their child was stillborn. The death of their daughter shook them and the family was torn apart. They got separated soon after it but decided to stay close. Just 18 months later Syme died in a car accident.
Reeves reportedly told parade magazine in 2006:
After everything that happened with him, it was the least he could say.
Grief changes shape but it never ends.
Yes, Keanu may be surrounded by death, but even in his darkest of times he has learned to find happiness and move on. Because happiness for him is very basic. In an interview in 1995 he was asked to define happiness and his definition was pretty simple:
Lying in bed with my lover, riding my bike, sports, happy times with my friends, conversation, learning, the earth, dirt, a beautiful repast with friends, family with wine and glorious food and happy tidings and energy and zest and lust for life. I like being in the desert, in nature, being in extraordinary spaces in nature, high on a tree, hanging out with my family or sisters.
When it comes to family and friends, everyone is generous but Keanu is a little too different. He has helped many people outside his circle. People have shared their personal accounts of Keanu's kindness on the internet. A few years ago, Redditor Kahi made the following comment in a thread about the #SadKeanu meme:
He also voluntarily took pay cuts for movies like The Replacements and The Devil's Advocates so that actors like Gene Hackman and Al Pacino would agree to do the movie, without overdoing the budget.
A family friend builds movie sets, doesn't design, is one of the poor duded that just builds. Anyways he worked on the set for the Matrix and Keanu heard about family trouble that he was having and gave him a $20,000 Christmas bonus to help him out. He was also one of the many people on the set that genuinely wanted to know people's names, would say hello and mean it, and would talk to people as if they were his peers and not below him just because they were practically making nothing to build a set, I've never heard anyone say Keanu is a douche, seems like the nicest person in Hollywood from a second hand experience.
I mean literally who does that! Keanu is definitely the person to look up to.
We can learn many things from him like finding happiness in the simplest of things and most importantly, death is not the opposite of life but a part of it. Keanu Reeves is a true inspiration. Instead of his net worth of $350 million, it is his words that caught my attention:
It's easy to stay grounded. The ground is very close and we walk on it every day.
Hello, my name is Sugandha Biswas. I'm a 21 year old software professional from New Delhi.
No comments:
Post a Comment