When Keanu was only three, his father
left their family. They still stayed in contact for a few years until he was
six. After his parents' divorce, their family moved from city to city. Because
they moved so frequently, Keanu attended four high schools.
He also struggled
with dyslexia, so school was challenging for him. He eventually left high
school without receiving a diploma, but is an avid reader today.
In 1993, his best friend River Phoenix
passed away after a drug overdose at the age of only 23. That in itself would
be enough to make even the strongest person on the world break down. That kind
of thing never really leaves you.
Then in 1998, Keanu meets Jennifer Syme.
The two fell in love and by 1999 she was pregnant with his daughter. But the
tragedy continued when at eight-months pregnant their child was stillborn. The
two were torn apart by the death of their daughter, but still remained close
friends. But just 18 months later, Syme died in a car accident.
Reeves reportedly told Parade
Magazine (via People)
in 2006,
"Grief changes shape, but it never ends." Unfortunately, it's a lesson he's been forced to learn well."
Keanu is a seriously charitable guy. He's
known in Hollywood for giving far more than was asked of him to the people who
helped make his career possible. While most actors will give some token of
appreciation to the crew when filming wraps, after the success of The Matrix and its sequels, Reeves gave an
estimated $80 million of his $114 million earnings to the special effects and
makeup staff.
He also voluntarily took pay cuts on
films like The Replacements and The
Devil's Advocates so that
actors like Gene Hackman and Al Pacino would agree to be in the films, while
keeping the casting within the budget.
In
his AMA he said that he tries to keep his life as
simple as he can. And in 2003, Keanu told Hello! Magazine:
Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I have already made for the next few centuries.
Just a short shoutout here for a couple of
reasons. First of all, Keanu Reeves is probably worth well over $100 million,
yet he decides to ride the subway like a normal person. Maybe he's trying to
decrease his carbon footprint, or he wants to connect with people. Either way,
it's down-to-earth and generally fantastic.
Secondly, he gives up his seat to a
woman without even a hesitation. He spots her holding her gym bag, and
immediately offers her his seat. What a great guy!
Keanu became the caretaker for his sister,
Kim, after she was diagnosed with leukemia. During his sister's decade-long
battle, he has donated privately and publicly to numerous cancer charities,
research centers, and hospitals.
He even set up his own charity but
decided against attaching his name to it.
So
there we have it, the sad yet true story of Keanu Reeves. When he was asked how
it is that, through all of his pain, he has maintained his status as one of the
nicest guys in the business and stayed so grounded he said:
It's easy to stay grounded. The ground is very close. And
we walk on it every day.
