There's more to Keanu Reeves than the characters he plays, and he's got the fascinating life
story to prove it.
Here's a look at just how the John Wick star went from a high school dropout to the captivating
actor he is today.
Reeves is Canadian, but he was actually born in Beirut, Lebanon, where his mother, Patricia
Taylor, a British costume designer and performer, met his father, Samuel Reeves.
But his dad was essentially out of the picture by the time Reeves was a toddler.
As a result, he basically went wherever his mom's career took them.
They lived in Sydney and New York City, and eventually, they settled down in Toronto.
Reeves definitely has a multicultural background.
In addition to his travels, he was also exposed to Chinese and Hawaiian culture through his
grandmother.
He has also said that his mom taught him British mannerisms and passed down some of those customs
and formal attitudes.
His upbringing may have been unconventional, but he definitely became more cultured because
of it.
Reeves' mother was quite well-connected in her line of work.
As a result, little Keanu met lots of celebrities when he was a kid.
His mother worked for David Bowie, and he also remembers spending time with Emmylou
Harris and Dolly Parton.
Apparently, Alice Cooper even babysat for him.
"I remember that he, uh, that there was fake poo in the fridge."
That was apparently par for the course.
"That's like an Alice Cooper bit?"
“That’s pretty funny that he did that.”
“The next time we talk to Alice, we’ll say, ‘Do you remember doing that?’”
"Oh, I'm sure he remembers that."
It's easy to see why Reeves became interested in acting at a young age, as an early exposure
to so many celebrities surely made it seem like breaking into Hollywood wasn't a far-fetched
fantasy.
If his mother could work her way up and connect with some of the biggest rock stars in the
world, why couldn't he achieve his own dreams?
Reeves is an exceptionally talented actor, but he was not the world's best student.
Over the course of five years, he attended several different high schools.
When he was a freshman, he wanted to go to a school that was highly ranked for academics,
but later, he decided to audition for Toronto's Etobicoke School of the Arts.
He was accepted, but unfortunately, he ended up getting expelled.
He's said that he enjoyed his time there, but he's also admitted that he simply wasn't
cut out for such a structured academic environment.
Reeves isn't the only actor in Hollywood who didn't finish high school, and like many other
creative young people, he thrived in alternative environments.
He also had dyslexia, which certainly didn't help matters.
But he enrolled in a class called "Respect for Acting," as well as sketch and improv
courses with Second City Toronto, and he continued attending these classes at night and honing
his craft.
Reeves is a man of many talents.
In addition to acting in movies and theater, he's also spent plenty of time on the ice
playing hockey.
In fact, at one point in his life, he hoped to play professionally.
While attending De La Salle College in Toronto, he played goalie, and he was quite the formidable
opponent.
He was so skilled at netminding that he earned the nickname "The Wall."
When he was younger, Reeves dreamed about representing Canada in the Olympics one day.
But when he decided to dedicate himself to acting, he put that dream on the back burner.
He continued to play hockey on a recreational basis, but he chose to put acting first.
Reeves may have started out as a young jack of all trades, but he chose to commit his
life to becoming a master of one, and that decision has clearly paid off.
One of Reeves' first professional gigs was working as a correspondent on the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation youth program Going Great.
The show focused on child prodigies who were able to accomplish amazing things at a young
age.
"And how long did you do it?"
"Umm, they fired me after the first year."
"They got rid of you!"
"I got one year of Going Great!"
Reeves also appeared in another local TV production called Hangin' In, a scripted series about
kids who attend a counseling center in a rough part of Toronto.
He described Hangin' In as a "godsend" for young actors in Toronto at the time who were
just trying to get a foot in the door and make some connections in the industry.
Reeves is not just skilled as an actor, he's also a gifted musician, and he was the bassist
in a band called Dogstar in the '90s and 2000s.
The band got its start when Reeves ran into vocalist Robert Mailhouse in a grocery store
in 1991.
The two bonded over their mutual love of hockey, and eventually, they realized that they both
liked jamming out together, too.
Two more friends joined the band, and as their fanbase grew, they started touring.
They even played some pretty big festivals, like Glastonbury in England.
The band broke up after releasing their second album because the members were getting busy
with other work commitments.
In particular, Reeves' career was really taking off with the popularity of the Matrix films.
But this wasn't the end of Reeves' musicianship, as he and Mailhouse would go on to perform
together some more in a band called Becky.
Maybe he can whip out that bass in the next John Wick movie.
Shredding on some strings could totally be a useful tool in an assassin's arsenal.
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