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Keanu Reeves
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One of the most inscrutable actors to ever hit it big, Keanu Reeves has been by turns adored, reviled, and grudgingly respected by the movie-going public. As the controversy over his talent rages on, his career choices and paychecks show him inching toward A-list status. Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian, was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1964. His mother, Patricia, was a showgirl; his father, Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist. After their marriage dissolved, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister Kim to New York City, then Toronto. Stepfather #1 was Paul Aaron, 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.
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Keanu Reeves first popularly successful film was Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Unfortunately for Reeves he may have done too good a job of acting as much of his subsequent portrayal in the press has been influenced byKeanu's comically airheaded character. Since then... Keanu Reeves has become a major box-office draw, and several of his films have become extremely popular. Speed(Sandra Bullock)was a tremendous success for Reeves. Even more successful forKeanuwas the science fiction hit The Matrix. Reeves reprised his starring role from that movie for the sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both box-office hits.
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"Keanu Reeves, the person, has a sort of void," says Hardball director Brian Robbins. "He's a guy sort of needing something, looking for something." Exactly what that is remains as puzzling as the Matrix plot.
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A tall, handsome laconic actor, Keanu Reeves rose to prominence in the 1980s and solidified his standing as a major star in the 1990s with roles in films like "Speed" (1994) and "The Matrix" (2000). Born in Beirut and raised in Australia, New York and Canada, the actor honed his craft on stage (in the homoerotic play "Wolfboy") and television (e.g., "Hanging In") in Toronto before making his debut in the ice hockey drama "Youngblood" in 1986. Reeves first garnered attention as the baby-faced stoner whose friend murdered his girlfriend in the based-on-fact "River's Edge" (1987). While his resume included such teen-themed efforts of "Permanent Record" and "The Prince of Pennsylvania" (both 1988), Reeves attempted to stretch as a love struck music teacher in the period drama "Dangerous Liaisons" (... 1988), he was outclassed by veteran co-stars John Malkovich and Glenn Close. The following year, however, director Stephen Herek tapped him for his breakthrough role as Theodore Logan, the Southern California surfer dude who time travels with his pal, in the innocuous and amusing "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure". Playing off co-star Alex Winter's Bill, Reeves delivered a letter-perfect turn which unfortunately typecast the actor. He was so convincing as the dim-wit with the halting delivery that some came to believe he wasn't acting.
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In this atmospheric romantic drama, Keanu Reeves plays Paul Sutton, who has just returned home from a stretch in the Army during World War II. Still reeling from the horrors of war, Paul wants to settle down and start a farm, but his wife Betty (Debra Messing), whom he met and impulsively married shortly before shipping out, has arranged for him to take a job as a salesman peddling chocolates. While taking a sales trip to another town, he befriends a beautiful but distraught young woman, Victoria Aragon (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon). While away at college, Victoria met and fell in love with a young man and soon became pregnant; ... when her boyfriend discovered she was expecting, he abandoned her. She returns home full of shame and fearful of her father's reaction. But Paul gets an idea -- he'll pose as her husband and leave after a day or two, so when she's left alone with the child, the disgrace will be on him, not her.
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Keanu Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon and lived on three continents before he was six. From his vagabond childhood to his flirtations with the music business--he released an album with his band Dogstar in the late '90s--BIOGRAPHY® tracks Keanu's life and career with the help of extensive clips, private photos and interviews with friends and colleagues. Find out how his hockey prowess helped launch his movie career, and examine the impact of the death of his friend and co-star River Pheonix. And go behind the scenes during the filming of The Matrix Reloaded, one of the most eagerly-anticipated sequels in recent years.
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Keanu Reeves