Keanu Reeves

There are celebrities who are larger than life, with egos to match. Then there are celebrities plagued by self-doubt, ones who spend their careers desperately trying to show everyone that they deserve recognition because they might not believe it themselves. Keanu Reeves appears to be neither of those things. He is a huge celebrity, one of the most marketable box office stars of his generation, and an actor responsible for a long list of memorable performances. But he’s also well-known for showing very little ego and having the demeanor of a regular guy. He comes across on screen and in person as just… a nice guy in Hollywood. In the end, that is what makes him special. He doesn’t seem to know (or flaunt) how big a star he really…

Keanu Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of British costume designer Patricia Taylor and native Hawaiian geologist Samuel Nowlin Reeves Jr. His family roots extend to China, Ireland and Portugal—and his childhood was not easy. Keanu’s parents divorced when he was around 3 years old, and his father would abandon him later in childhood, disappearing for nearly a decade. He moved with his mother to Sydney, Australia, then to New York, and eventually to Toronto after his mother remarried—something she would do several times during his youth. Toronto became the home that Keanu best remembers, and it’s also where he got his first taste of acting, in the ensemble of a summer camp performance of Damn Yankees. The stage wasn’t exactly love at first sight for Keanu. His…

Keanu Reeves lived through a rough childhood, and his years as a young adult were not any easier. Behind his easygoing smile, his rocketing career and his nice-guy image is a man who has been touched by tragedy far too often. His family turmoil, which included a strained relationship with his mother and sister, was difficult enough. Then, in 1993, he was struck hard by the death of his close friend and fellow actor, River Phoenix. The two met on the set of Parenthood—River wasn’t in that film but Keanu played opposite his kid brother, Joaquin. In 1991, River and Keanu co-starred in the critically acclaimed drama My Own Private Idaho. Reeves was filming Speed when he learned that on Halloween night 1993, a man he described as one of…

The Part: Teenager Matt is caught up in an emotional drama after a friend, Jamie, is killed. He is both surprised by how apathetic he is about the murder and conflicted by a desire to protect his other friends from suspicion—including John (Daniel Roebuck), whom he knows to be the actual killer. As a result, he is the centerpiece of a dark movie about the morality—or lack thereof—of American teenagers caught up in the drug culture of the 1980s. For much of the film, Matt grapples with his own moral compass, particularly in his battles with his younger brother, Tim (Joshua John Miller). For brief moments throughout, Matt finds the courage to do the right things. He is the one who leads the police to a dead boy, for example.…

The Part: In this feel-good comedy-drama, Tod Higgins joins a slightly dysfunctional family as the unimpressive boyfriend of Julie (Martha Plimpton), a high school girl with no interest in high school. He eventually marries Julie, who then becomes pregnant, and together they all move into the house of Julie’s mother, Helen (Dianne Wiest), who is against the relationship. Over time, Tod reveals himself to be a somewhat mature and surprisingly deep and wise young man. He becomes a temporary father figure/big brother to Helen’s younger son, Garry (Joaquin Phoenix), who has an obsession with girls, sex and pornography. Tod counsels Garry and assures him he’s just a normal boy. Helen takes notice of Tod’s compassion and guidance and begins to change her opinion of him. In fact, she not only…

The Part: Ted Logan is a dim, goofy, yet lovable high school student from San Dimas, California, who joins forces with his best friend, Bill, to form a rock group called the Wyld Stallyns. They are oblivious to the world around them. The film begins with Ted being on the verge of failing history class. If he does, his father plans to ship him off to a military school in Alaska. But it turns out Wyld Stallyns is destined to become the greatest rock band of all time, with music that inspires humanity to create a utopian society. That won’t happen if Ted fails history and is shipped off to Alaska. So, a mysterious man named Rufus, from the year 2688, uses a time-traveling phone booth to return to the…