Keanu Reeves

Although he has a grumpy face – an unsettling face due to his cross-cultural features – the truth is that Keanu (exotic name that in Hawaiian means “cool mountain breeze”) is known for good guy roles, in the style of the average young man. who, without muscles or gym fat, sees himself become a hero despite himself. This is how we saw him in what was undoubtedly his first success on the big screen:Speed ​​, where he accompanied an actress who would also become a diva of our time, Sandra Bullock .

Keanu Charles Reeves’ childhood was eventful. He is the son of a Hawaiian and an English woman, and was born in Beirut (Lebanon) on September 2, 1964, although he soon began traveling the world. His parents’ marriage was not working and they moved many times before getting divorced, living in Hawaii, Australia, New York and Toronto. It was in this city when, at the age of seventeen, Keanu dropped out of school and became interested in acting. He received classes at Theater Arts High School and made his first steps in theater and some sporadic work on Canadian television, such as Going Great .(1982). Determined to embark on an acting career, Keanu went to Hollywood with three thousand dollars (read 3,000 euros) in his pocket, aboard his old Volvo. In the city of dreams, he soon found roles suitable for his bad boy look who seems to have just woken up from a nap.

In addition to working on the small screen, he accompanied Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe in Youngblood , and Dennis Hooper in Sadistic Instinct , both from 1986. But his films at that time were mediocre productions with very little pull: Flying (1986) , Permanent memory (1988), A prince in America (1988). He had a bit more fortune with Dangerous Liaisons (1988), by Stephen Frears , and with kind and funny comedies likeSweet home… Sometimes! (1989), by Ron Howard , and I’ll Love You Until I Kill You (1990), by Lawrence Kasdan . In 1991, director Kathryn Bigelow cast him in the role she needed to make a name for herself, that of an FBI agent inThey call it Bodhi .

His cachet rose later thanks to larger-budget films and considerable box office response: Bram Stoker ‘s Dracula (1992), by Coppola, Much Ado About Nothing (1993), by Kenneth Branagh , andLittle Buddha (1993), by Bertolucci. Then came what would be his definitive takeoff, thanks to his brilliant performance as agent Jack Traven in Speed ​​(1994).

From that moment on, Keanu became a sought-after actor, and yet he clearly got the scripts wrong (Johnny Mnemonic , A Walk in the Clouds ,chain reaction ,Honeymoon ), until he made a pact with the devil (1997), an extravagant film that once again restored some of his lost fame. It was around this time that he also branched out from his artistic talents and became part of the rock group Dogstar. And it is that Keanu has always been a restless guy, very fond of music, reading (he loves authors such as Thomas Mann , Dostoyevsky or Rimbaud) and risky activities such as hockey (he was nicknamed “The Wall” on his team) or motorcycles (due to a serious accident they had to remove his spleen). All that world of hobbies must have influenced the choice of his next role: Matrix (1999).

The Wachowski brothers’ film catapulted him into the rank of highest-paid actors, to the point that he has earned $30 million for the two sequels,Matrix Reloaded and the still unpublishedMatrix Revolutions . And between filming and filming of his most charismatic character, he allowed himself some films of considerable interest, such as the esoteric Premonition (2000), the sports Forced Team (2000) and Hardball (2001) or the melodramatic Sweet November (2001). And it can be seen that he does not lack work: soon we will see him in the comedy When you least expect it… , along with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton , and in the science fiction thrillerConstantine , opposite Rachel Weisz . Time will tell if his status as “chosen” was authentic.