- I was very self-motivated when I was in school.
I was taking acting classes at night,
I was going to Summer Stock Theater.
- You take the blue pill, the story ends,
you wake up in your bed
and believe whatever you want to believe.
- Since I was a child I was always asking why.
They want you to just to dive off your board
into the ground.
I got bumps and cuts, and boards, and elbows.
Your life experience is a resource.
It's kind of a resource, it's what you can bring.
Happiness is; I guess I could only do
like kind of an emotive run on that which is, it's all good.
- He's a Canadian actor, producer, director and musician.
He's best known for his acting career,
which began in 1985,
and has spanned more than three decades.
His acting career has garnered several awards,
including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He's Keanu Reeves, and here's my take
on his top 10 rules for success.
(jet engine)
- I left home when I was 17, 18.
I drove from Toronto Canada to Los Angeles when I was 20.
And moved out of my home when I was 18.
So the beginning,
I could take care of myself as a teenager.
When I moved to the States I had some family,
and I had a lot of rejection. (laughing)
- [Interviewer] Who did you want to be?
How did you foresee your future as an actor?
- I didn't, I just wanted to do it.
I was very self-motivated.
When I was in school I was taking acting classes at night,
I was going to Summer Stock Theater,
I was doing community theater.
- [Interviewer] You were simply enjoying it.
- I was enjoying it, but it was a kind of;
I don't want to use the word calling.
- [Interviewer] Like destiny.
- I don't know if it was destiny,
it's just what I wanted to do.
- [Interviewer] Still enjoying it.
- Yeah, still enjoying it
and still working at working I call it.
- He's letting go of his best self
for one, his own kind of dark passion to fight,
to want to have power.
But he's using it as like,
but I have to take care of the temple.
I have to take care of my parents,
I have to take care of my master.
And so, it's called Man of Tai Chi.
There's these things that we often times,
we have responsibilities.
And so we'll make sacrifices, you know.
Or we'll be attracted to something,
and we'll make sacrifices to get something.
And the film is kind of promoting the idea
that we have to be thoughtful about that.
That you can sometimes sacrifice yourself,
that you think it's for the good,
but maybe there's another way.
Blue pill or red pill?
Easy, red pill.
What?
- You take the blue pill,
the story ends, you wake up in your bed
and believe whatever you want to believe.
You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland.
And I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Remember, all I'm offering is the truth, nothing more.
- The red pill to me is a kind of symbolic taking up
of the torch of trying to understand,
and to, in a way,
there's an idealism to it.
It's almost like, to me,
the red pill represents the best of who we can possibly be.
To ourselves and to other people.
To all sentient beings, to nature, everything.
I trained for the film for about two months,
hanging out with lawyers, going to court,
working on an accent.
I did some movement exercises, just for the guy.
And so by the time I got to the film,
I was just ready.
Since I was a child I was always asking why.
It used to drive everyone around me crazy
because it was like why and how come.
So once I started working and making movies,
and acting in that format, I was always really curious about
where the camera was going, what was the lens doing.
Also in terms of what everybody else was doing.
Oh my God, I know, that's like the thing.
It's like okay Keanu, the waves are three feet high,
you're in Hawaii ocean; it's just the ocean.
And we want you to fall off.
We want you to just dive off your board into the ground.
I got bumps and cuts, and boards, and elbows,
and jumping and scraping, but that's fun.
Your life experience is a resource.
It's kind of a resource; it's what you can bring.
And so I kind of describe it as like,
there's myself and then there's the role,
and the story that you're telling.
And you bring what you bring, and then you learn,
and you go to places that the character will take you to.
I know I'm a pretty simple guy.
Ever since I was a young kid I wanted to act.
I started professional acting when I was 15.
And I've been really lucky to have the chance
to have a career.
I just have always tried to keep it simple.
Happiness is, I guess I can only do
kind of an emotive run on that, which is it's all good.
Everything's good.
You're feeling good,
you're doing something that makes you feel good.
You're working with people, loving with people.
It's all good.
(indistinct crowd chatter)
(jet engine)
- Thank you so much for watching.
I made this video because Jason Rosanina asked me to.
So if there's a famous entrepreneur
that you want me to profile next,
leave it in the comments below,
and I'll see what I can do.
I'd also love to know which of Keanu's top 10 rules
had the biggest impact on you, and why.
Which did you like the most,
what resonated with you the most?
Leave it in the comments and I will join in the discussion.
Thank you so much for watching.
Continue to believe, and I'll see you soon.
(jet engine)
- I don't know; I find in my career
I've had a lot of people disagree with me.
(audience laughing)
But I'm okay with that.
I think that's part of the collaboration.
It's like, I have to understand what you're thinking
and feeling if you're acting in a piece,
if you're the production designer.
It's this collaboration of ideas,
and as long as you know that I'm always right.
(audience laughing)
It's great, it's perfect.
- What happens if I don't know that?
- Then we have to talk longer.
- Do you say, like let's meet in private?
- Yeah, then we're just, okay come with me,
and let me just show you.
- How do you shake it off,
when you get critiqued?
- Drink.
(laughing)
Just keep going.
- But you're working on something for six months,
and all of a sudden it comes out.
- And gets dismissed. - Yes.
And then you just get harpooned.
- Yeah, it's awful; yeah I hate it.
And you hope that the people enjoy what you do,
and when they don't it's always a drag.
And then when you get harpooned, it's like really, okay.