Keanu Reeves helps to fund children hospitals but doesn't attach his name to donations
EXCLUSIVE Reeves, worth roughly £275m, is one of Hollywood's good guys and is reprising his famous role as 'Ted' in Bill & Ted Face the Music
Listen up, dudes. He may be worth a mighty £275million and star in a bodacious movie sequel that’s just been released.
But fame, money and glory are not what it’s all about for Keanu Reeves, truly one of Hollywood’s good guys.
The man who plays airhead guitar fan Ted “Theodore” Logan in the latest incarnation of Bill & Ted does not need material things to be happy.
In his own quiet, unassuming way, he has looked out for others through the years, gaining a reputation as one of the most charitable, caring and kind stars in Tinseltown.
So as Bill & Ted Face the Music hits movie screens – with all the favourite catchphrases, including “excellent”, “whoa”, “party on dudes” and “bogus” – Keanu may get the plaudits, but it will be countless others who continue to benefit from the altruistic star.
There’s his charity foundation which helps sick kids and cancer sufferers.
Not to mention the times he took salary cuts so other actors would be paid more – even gifting stuntmen with a Harley-Davidson each.
Many put his generosity down to the struggles he’s overcome.
From losing his girlfriend Jennifer Syme in a car accident in 1999, just 18 months after their daughter Ava was stillborn, to caring for his sister as she battled cancer, and losing best friend River Phoenix to a drug overdose in 1993, Keanu has suffered more than his share of tragedies.
The 56-year-old admits he shied away from relationships for years after Jennifer’s death, preferring to form temporary families on the sets of his blockbuster films, which include Speed, The Matrix, John Wick and Point Break, opposite Patrick Swayze.
He says: “Working a lot and constantly moving from one film set to another has been important in helping me overcome some of the more painful times in my life.
“Every film set gives me the feeling that I’m part of a new family and I feel fortunate to be able to have a job that gives me a lot of satisfaction.
“But I still work at finding more inner strength and wisdom and hopefully look towards the future with greater optimism.”
Keanu has always been fiercely private about his personal life. He now shares a home with his long-term artist girlfriend Alexandra Grant, 47.
The couple only went public last year but have been friends for a decade and an item for years. They have a home in the Hollywood hills.
But previously, Keanu preferred a nomadic lifestyle, travelling, surfing and riding his beloved motorbikes.
He explains: “I spent a long time living like a gypsy, but I enjoyed living that way.
“Whenever I would come back to Los Angeles after working on a film, I would either stay in hotels or rent houses.
"But after a while I think I just grew tired of not having a fixed address and I decided to look for a house that I like and buy it.
“Finally I came across one and I said, ‘This is what I want!’ I’ve been living in that house ever since. I feel very comfortable there and it’s a nice place to invite friends.”
For some, Keanu is seen as a modern-day guru, so much so that Be More Keanu – a new unauthorised self-help book – has been written using the star’s words and actions as a kind of life road map.
He famously gave £75million of his Matrix earnings to people behind the scenes, who he felt deserved it more. The star was also spotted hanging out with a homeless man, sharing food and listening to his stories for hours.
He thought nothing of driving a girl 50 miles out of his way because her car had broken down.
And when a flight he was on was forced to make an emergency landing, he helped organise transportation for fellow passengers, sharing a bus with them, playing country music from his phone and regaling them with facts about California along the way.
He also makes huge charitable donations to children’s hospitals and takes no credit for it.
When pushed, he admits: “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.”
Keanu also claims he doesn’t need material things to be happy. He says: “It’s always nice to open your eyes every morning and see the world – it all seems so simple!
“That’s why I frequently use an expression that I like very much, and which gives me peace of mind: ‘I’m happy to be here’.
"That enormous sense of gratitude is enough for me – I don’t need to surround myself with a lot of objects and possessions to feel that way.”
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, to showgirl and costume designer Patricia Taylor and geologist Samuel Reeves, Keanu was just three when his dad walked out on the family.
His mother raised him in Toronto, Canada, but Keanu struggled at school due to dyslexia.
grateful
He began working on the film sets of his mum’s second husband, Broadway and Hollywood director Paul Aaron.
After a few small movie roles, his big break came in the 1989 film Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, about two high-school buddies who form a band and travel through time.
Now they’re back for the long-awaited third instalment, with Keanu teaming up once more with his longtime pal Alex Winter, 55, who plays Bill.
Keanu says: “We enjoy each other’s company and our thoughts and takes on the world.
“I love the characters. I love the world and I love working with Alex. I’m grateful that we had the chance to play again.”
It seems, after his own losses, Keanu has at last found happiness – although he admits he still often looks back with nostalgia.
He adds: “Happiness often belongs to our past and what we constantly try to do is recapture that feeling and bring it back to the present, rediscover it, and feel like we’re in that moment again.
"The search for peace or finding happiness is this constant desire on our part and I think many people are looking for that and hoping to find it.
“We’re comforted by the fact that we know that feeling from the past and sometimes we can only be truly happy by looking back. That’s where nostalgia comes into play.”
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