Updated July 5, 2022 43.1K votes 6.8K voters 1.1M views
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Vote up the sweet Keanu Reeves stories that make you an even bigger fan.
It’s easy to see Keanu Reeves and think of him as the dimwitted, tubular dude from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure or the chill, wannabe surfer from Point Break. But forget what you think you know about the Canadian actor; the following stories prove that he's super thoughtful. Those who've worked with him insist he's one of the nicest celebs to encounter.
The star of The Matrix hasn't let fame and fortune get to his head, either; he doesn't crave attention. Reeves has been in the industry for three decades, but fans really don’t know much about his personal life. He has managed to stay out of the tabloids and off social media in an era when many celebrities have no clue how to maintain distance between their public career and their private affairs. Because of his discretion, Reeves's kind acts are even more heartwarming.
If you haven’t heard these legendary tales about Keanu Reeves and need further proof that he's one of the most helpful fellows in Hollywood, read on and prepare to be impressed by the actor’s generosity and kindhearted nature. Reeves is more than just one of the world’s biggest movies star, he’s a down-to-earth guy who doesn't take himself too seriously.
A lot of people work on movie sets, and not all of them are actors. Depending on their job, they may not make a lot of money. According to Redditor /u/kahi, Keanu Reeves heard about one such worker and offered assistance:
A family friend builds movie sets, doesn't design, is one of the poor dudes that just builds. Anyways he worked on the set for the Matrix and Keanu heard about family trouble he was having and gave him a $20,000 Christmas bonus to help him out. He also was one of the only people on the set that genuinely wanted to know peoples names, would say hello and mean it, and would talk to people as they were his peers and not below him just because they were practically making nothing to build a set.
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He Was There For His Sister When She Was Diagnosed With Leukemia
Keanu Reeves's sister was diagnosed with leukemia around 1991, according to Snopes. A 1999 Women's Day (Australia) article noted the actor "lovingly supported" his sister as she battled cancer. He even took her on a vacation to Tahiti.
In 2009, Reeves revealed he had a charitable foundation that aided children's hospitals and cancer research.
"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," he told Ladies' Home Journal. "I don’t like to attach my name to it, I just let the foundation do what it does."
In 2013, Keanu Reeves revealed that, soon after moving to Los Angeles, he met a few strangers at a gas station and joined their street hockey game. Over the next decade, Reeves would become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, but that didn't stop him from playing street hockey with those guys. He explained on Reddit:
For a long time in Los Angeles when I first moved there, when I was 20 years old, it was such a new world and so I saw some guys at a gas station once who had hockey equipment in their car, and I asked them what they were doing, and they said they were playing street hockey, so I asked them if I could play. So I became involved in a street hockey game that took place every weekend for over 10 years, every weekend, red versus black. We would take holidays off and sometimes summers, but the game was going on for over 10 years. That was cool to be a part of. It was a cool thing to have happen. Made some friends.
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He Befriended Fellow Travelers When Their Plane Made An Emergency Landing
Keanu Reeves made the best of a bad situation when a United flight from San Francisco to Burbank, CA, had to make an emergency landing in Bakersfield. Reeves and his fellow passengers gathered in a van and drove the remaining two hours to Los Angeles. During the impromptu road trip, Reeves recited facts about the desolate farm town they landed in and played country music from the '50s that originated in Bakersfield purely for the sake of educational entertainment.
Reeves took charge and made the trip efficient and fun for everyone involved. He managed to turn what could have been a frightening flight and miserable drive into a night none of his fellow passengers are likely to forget.
Twitter user Andrew Kimmel delighted Keanu fans in 2022 when he shared a story of his run-in with the actor in an airport. According to Kimmel, Reeves was being persistently questioned by an eager young fan:
Keanu Reeves was on my flight from London to NYC today. A young boy asked for an autograph at baggage & then began to fire off a series of rapid-fire questions. Keanu happily responded to every single one…
Kid: Why were you in London?
KR: Filming a documentary.
Kid: I saw online you were at the Grand Prix (pronouncing the x).
KR: Yes, the Grand Prix (in a French accent, without correcting him). F1! Race cars!
Kid: Do you drive?
KR: Not F1, but I like riding motorcycles.
Kid: Do you live in NY?
KR: I live in LA.
Kid: How long are you gonna be in New York?
KR: Four days! No… five. Five days!
Kid: Why are you in NY?
KR: Gonna see a broadway show!
Kid: What broadway show?
KR: American Buffalo! Mamet!
Kid: Where are you staying in NY?
KR: Midtown!
By this time the kid was running out of questions, so Keanu started grilling him… Why were you in Europe? What galleries did you go to in Paris? What was your favorite?
The man could not have been nicer, especially after an international flight. I thought I’d share this because the dude is a class act and little moments like this can make such a big difference in people’s lives. We need more Keanus!
It seems everyone who interacts with Keanu Reeves knows the actor is just a cool guy who likes to do nice things for people. Redditor /u/bo2dd2 claimed to have experienced that firsthand:
Back in the late 90s and fresh out of college I got my first job as an assistant prop designer on the set of Chain Reaction (Keanu was a supporting actor with Morgan Freeman). EVERY DAY for the last few weeks of filming, Keanu treated the stage hands and "grunt workers" (including myself) by taking us out for free breakfast and lunch. He was genuinely a very nice guy to work with.
Since then, I've worked on about 30 different sets and have never met an actor as generous and friendly as him.
