Actor Keanu Reeves once refused to play the second part “Speed” even though he knew he would make tens of millions of dollars from the project.
Recently, Keanu Reeves attracted attention when paying tribute to the stunt cast of John Wick: Chapter 4 with Rolex Submariner watches worth tens of thousands of dollars. Jeremy Marinas – one of four recipients – said it was “the best gift” he received for completing a film project. However, Reeves fans are not surprised by the actor’s generous actions.
Keanu Reeves is famous for being generous, accepting losses so that his colleagues receive a decent salary.
In the early 2000s, he once gave the stuntmen of the movie The Matrix of expensive Harley-Davidson motorcycles as a thank you. He also spent tens of millions of dollars in box office commissions to give the VFX staff and costumes because they thought they were the ones who made the movie successful.
In 1996, Reeves agreed to reduce his salary by several million dollars so that The Devil’s Advocate team could afford to invite Al Pacino to join the project. He did the same thing with The Replacements (2000) when Warner Bros. said he couldn’t afford to pay Gene Hackman, who plays Reeves’ coach in the film.
The WSJ writer Tom KingStaff once commented: “What makes Keanu Reeves different, by Hollywood standards, is that he doesn’t seem to be interested in money.” Reeves’ manager once revealed that the actor took 12 hours of thought before accepting the role of Speed , even though the film was likely to be successful at the box office. Meanwhile, the same year, the actor was very excited when he accepted to play Little Buddha , a script with more depth and only made $ 1.7 million at the theater.
After the success of Speed , which grossed $350 million, Keanu Reeves refused to participate in the sequel because he wanted to find more interesting projects. The team then corrected the script, writing a new male lead character for Jason Patric to play.
Keanu Reeves once explained to the New York Post how he chose the film project: “I find joy and money unrelated. When I accept the role, I hope to make a good movie. I am very grateful for the projects. My own successful projects. They give me the opportunity to act in other films. I consider those successes a premise to continue acting.”
Outside of work, Keanu Reeves secretly donates millions of dollars to charity projects.
The Matrix actor has an undisclosed charitable foundation, often contributing to cancer research and helping children in need. His donations are usually sent anonymously through this foundation. “I don’t want to put my name on it. I let the charity run and do its job,” Reeves explained on Snopes .
Reeves is dedicated to cancer prevention and treatment efforts. In the early 1990s, Kim – his sister – was diagnosed with blood cancer. A source close to the actor once revealed that he contributed 70% of the Matrix film salary to these hospitals. Kim later recovered from the disease, thanks to the research works by Keanu Reeves himself who regularly raised money to support.
About his generous personality, Keanu Reeves once told Hollywood : “For me, money is not important. I have earned a lot of money. I want to enjoy life and not focus on how to deposit money. more and more banks. I give a lot and live simply. We all know that health is the most important thing.”
Keanu Reeves , born in 1964, in Toronto, Canada. Over the past three decades, he has been one of Hollywood’s best-selling stars at the box office with a total of more than 3.8 billion. The actor is also loved for his friendly and positive personality despite going through many events . Keanu Reeves just completed Matrix 4 and John Wick 4.
