KEANU REEVES

Keanu Reeves has somehow achieved the impossible. He's one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, worth a fortune, adored by millions and yet still gives off the energy of a bloke you'd happily share a bench with while waiting for the bus. In an industry full of egos the size of small countries, Keanu has built a reputation for being ridiculously kind, painfully humble and just a bit mysterious. Which only makes people love him more.

Mind you, there was a time when nobody quite knew what to make of him. He bounced from goofy comedies like Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure to action films and dramas, quietly building a career while critics scratched their heads trying to work him out. Then the 1990s arrived and suddenly the bloke couldn't stop making classics. Point Break, Speed and eventually The Matrix turned him into one of Hollywood's biggest stars and convinced an entire generation that wearing black trench coats and sunglasses indoors was somehow a personality.

The funny thing about Keanu is that he never seemed interested in being "cool". He just accidentally became cool. While other actors chased awards and headlines, he carried on doing his own thing. Which is probably why audiences stuck with him when Hollywood briefly forgot how good he was.

Then came John Wick.

Let's be honest, nobody expected a film about a retired hitman seeking revenge for his dog to become one of the greatest action franchises of modern times. Yet there was Keanu, reloading guns like an Olympic sport and dispatching half the criminal underworld while looking mildly annoyed. The role gave him one of the greatest comebacks in cinema history and proved that you write Keanu Reeves off at your own peril.

Off-screen, he's become almost mythical. Stories about him giving up seats on the underground, buying gifts for stunt crews and generally being an all-round decent human being have turned him into the internet's favourite nice bloke. Which is mad really. In a world obsessed with celebrities behaving badly, Keanu became famous for simply not being a knob.

Insomniacs Trivia

• Keanu gave away a huge chunk of his Matrix earnings to the special effects and costume teams because he felt they deserved more recognition. Which is not something you hear every day in Hollywood.

• He performed around 90% of his own stunts for the John Wick films and spent months learning martial arts and weapons training. Fair play, most of us pull a muscle reaching for the remote.

• Before acting took over completely, Keanu played bass guitar in a rock band called Dogstar. Because apparently saving humanity and fighting assassins wasn't enough to keep him busy.

Insomniacs Take

Keanu Reeves is proof that you don't need to shout the loudest to become a legend. The man has spent forty years quietly getting on with the job, treating people well and occasionally reinventing action cinema for a laugh. Whether he's dodging bullets, hunting down mobsters or travelling through time with Bill and Ted, he brings a sincerity that's become incredibly rare. And honestly, if the internet has decided anyone deserves a bit of happiness, it's probably Keanu Reeves.

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