 He's taken the internet by storm with his badass movie roles yet wholesome real life personality, and is becoming more popular than anyone thought possible. He's told amazing stories on screen, but what's his backstory offscreen? Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Matt Rogers and this is the story of Keanu Reeves. Now I got on the Keanu Train growing up with the Matrix trilogy. I idolise Neo for more years than I care to admit, to the point that I wore out the VHS of the Matrix Reloaded, but Reeves has been around long before then, so let's go way back. Little known fact is that Keanu Reeves was actually born in Lebanon back in 1964, which amazingly places him in his mid 50s by the way. He was born to an English mother and a Chinese Hawaiian father, so Reeves had no lack of experiencing various cultures growing up. In an interview back in 2013, Reeves said, quote, my grandmother is Chinese and Hawaiian, so I was around Chinese art, furniture and cuisine when I was growing up. I remember that I really liked haikus, I also liked anime and kung fu movies, so yeah I was exposed to Asian culture since I was a kid, end quote. But as diverse as his childhood was, it was not without its dark and heartbreaking moments. When Keanu was just 3 years old, his father abandoned him and his family, leaving them to fend for themselves. On the other hand, his father being imprisoned for selling heroin at a local airport. The family moved away, however, unfortunately this was the first of many divorces that Keanu's mother went through in years to come. After being expelled from a handful of Canadian schools due to his, quote, rambunctious behaviour, Keanu found a passion for hockey before dropping out of school altogether to concentrate on acting. Like most great actors, Reeves started out in the theatre before appearing in a few commercials in the early 1980s for brands such as Coca-Cola. Who's your coach? My dad. However, his career really started with 80s movies such as the Bill and Ted series, Permanent Record and River's Edge, where Reeves started alongside his best friend River Phoenix, older brother to Joaquin Phoenix. Keanu and River soon became inseparable and went on to work on a few movies together, one of which being My Own Private Idaho, where Phoenix during filming developed a serious drug addiction. Four years later, when they were both 23, River Phoenix took a deadly combination of morphine and cocaine and tragically passed away. A year later, Keanu Reeves' career changed gears to more serious roles, most notably in the fantastic thriller Speed with Sandra Bullock, and then famously turning down $11 million to be in Speed 2, Cruise Control. He did, however, accept a few roles such as Johnny Mnemonic, Chain Reaction, and Feeling Minnesota that all turned out to flop at the box office. But things took a turn for the better with the 1997 film The Devil's Advocate, which Reeves starred alongside Al Pacino, but our friend Keanu had bigger fish to fry, which is where we enter The Matrix, the worldwide phenomenon that launched Reeves into Hollywood's stardom. He starred, of course, in the lead role as the chosen one, Neo, who is plucked from obscurity to have his eyes opened up to the real world and then capable of performing unexplainable feats. You would be forgiven for thinking that things would only get better from here for Keanu, but tragedy struck during filming for The Matrix. His girlfriend at the time, Jennifer Syme, was eight months pregnant with their child, Ava, who was then stillborn, then resulting in the couple's breakup just a few weeks later. Just a year and a half later, Syme was on her way to a party at Marilyn Manson's home when she was in a fatal car accident, which took her life at the age of just 28. Keanu had this to say in a 2006 interview, quote, grief changes shape, but it never ends. People have a misconception that you can deal with it and say, it's gone and I'm better, they're wrong. When the people you love are gone, you're alone. Keanu being the amazing person that he is didn't let these tragedies get the better of him, and he went on to complete The Matrix trilogy with The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions, donating 70% of his salary to charity. He then had his directorial debut in 2013 in Man of Tai Chi, also in the lead role, going on to make many more outstanding movies. One that I really liked was the thriller Knock Knock, but more recently the John Wick movies, which are the best action movies I've seen in a long time. His deadly characters are dramatically contrasted with his real-life charm and charisma, always having the perfect thing to say in any given situation. What is your secret for always staying down to earth? Well, I mean... gravity. And ensuring he's dodging any potential scandals along the way. Plus, his humility knows no bounds, as he has been secretly donating millions to children's charities for years. Moving forward, we can look forward to Toy Story 4, Keanu playing Duke Kaboom, Canada's greatest stuntman. Huh. Oh yeah. Ha. Ha. Yes. Bill and Ted 3 is set for an August 2020 release, John Wick Chapter 4 in May of 2021, but sooner than that, we will of course see him in the video game Cyberpunk 2077, currently on track for an April 2020 release. I think I speak on behalf of everyone, but I say thanks Keanu for being you and don't ever change. This is Matt Rogers, and that is all.