Keanu Reeves

Keanu Charles Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian, was born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is the son of 'Patricia Taylor' (qv), a showgirl and costume designer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist. Keanu's father was born in Hawaii, of British, Portuguese, Native Hawaiian, and Chinese ancestry, and Keanu's mother is originally from England. After his parents' marriage dissolved, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister, 'Kim Reeves' (qv), to New York City, then Toronto. Stepfather #1 was 'Paul Aaron' (qv), a stage and film director - he and Patricia divorced within a year, after which she went on to marry (and divorce) rock promoter Robert Miller and hair salon owner Jack Bond. Reeves never reconnected with his biological father. In high school, Reeves was lukewarm toward academics but took a keen interest in ice hockey (as team goalie, he earned the nickname "The Wall") and drama. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue an acting career.After a few stage gigs and a handful of made-for-TV movies, he scored a supporting role in the 'Rob Lowe' (qv) hockey flick _Youngblood (1986)_ (qv), which was filmed in Canada. Shortly after the production wrapped, Reeves packed his bags and headed for Hollywood. Reeves popped up on critics' radar with his performance in the dark adolescent drama, _River's Edge (1986)_ (qv), and landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated _Dangerous Liaisons (1988)_ (qv) with director 'Stephen Frears' (qv).His first popular success was the role of totally rad dude Ted "Theodore" Logan in _Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)_ (qv). The wacky time-travel movie became something of a cultural phenomenon, and audiences would forever confuse Reeves's real-life persona with that of his doofy on-screen counterpart. He then joined the casts of 'Ron Howard' (qv)'s comedy, _Parenthood (1989)_ (qv) and 'Lawrence Kasdan' (qv)'s _I Love You to Death (1990)_ (qv).Over the next few years, Reeves tried to shake the Ted stigma with a series of highbrow projects. He played a slumming rich boy opposite 'River Phoenix' (qv)'s narcoleptic male hustler in _My Own Private Idaho (1991)_ (qv), an unlucky lawyer who stumbles into the vampire's lair in _Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)_ (qv), and Shakespearean party-pooper Don John in _Much Ado About Nothing (1993)_ (qv).In 1994, the understated actor became a big-budget action star with the release of _Speed (1994)_ (qv). Its success heralded an era of five years in which Reeves would alternate between small films, like _Feeling Minnesota (1996)_ (qv) and _The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997)_ (qv), and big films like _A Walk in the Clouds (1995)_ (qv) and _The Devil's Advocate (1997)_ (qv). (There were a couple misfires, too: _Johnny Mnemonic (1995)_ (qv) and _Chain Reaction (1996)_ (qv).) After all this, Reeves did the unthinkable and passed on the Speed sequel, but he struck box-office gold again a few years later with the Wachowski siblings' cyberadventure, _The Matrix (1999)_ (qv).Now a bonafide box-office star, Keanu would appear in a string of smaller films -- among them _The Replacements (2000)_ (qv), _The Watcher (2000)_ (qv), _The Gift (2000)_ (qv), _Sweet November (2001)_ (qv), and _Hardball (2001)_ (qv) - before _The Matrix Reloaded (2003)_ (qv) and _The Matrix Revolutions (2003)_ (qv) were both released in 2003.Since the end of The Matrix trilogy, Keanu has divided his time between mainstream and indie fare, landing hits with _Something's Gotta Give (2003)_ (qv), _The Lake House (2006)_ (qv), and _Street Kings (2008)_ (qv). He's kept Matrix fans satiated with films such as _Constantine (2005)_ (qv), _A Scanner Darkly (2006)_ (qv), and _The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)_ (qv). And he's waded back into art-house territory with _Ellie Parker (2005)_ (qv), _Thumbsucker (2005)_ (qv), _The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009)_ (qv), and _Henry's Crime (2010)_ (qv).Most recently, as post-production on the samurai epic _47 Ronin (2013)_ (qv) waged on, Keanu appeared in front of the camera in _Side by Side (2012)_ (qv), a documentary on celluloid and digital filmmaking, which he also produced. He also directed another Asian-influenced project, _Man of Tai Chi (2013)_ (qv).In 2014, Keanu played the title role in the action revenge film _John Wick (2014)_ (qv), which became popular with critics and audiences alike. He reprised the role in _John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)_ (qv), taking the now-iconic character to a better opening weekend and even more enthusiastic reviews than the first go-around.::Anonymous