Keanu Reeves

Actors

Keanu Charles Reeves (born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor, author, comic book writer, director, and musician. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Reeves grew up in Toronto. He began acting in theatre productions, and in television films before making his mainstream film debut in Youngblood (1986). He had a supporting role in Stephen Frears‘ Dangerous Liaisons (1988), with Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Swoosie Kurtz, Mildred Natwick, Peter Capaldi, and Uma Thurman. He gained recognition in his breakthrough role as Ted “Theodore” Logan in the science fiction comedy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), with Alex Winter and George Carlin.

This was followed by a supporting role in Ron Howard‘s comedy Parenthood (1989), Steve Martin, Tom Hulce, Rick Moranis, Martha Plimpton, Joaquin Phoenix (credited Leaf), Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, and Dianne Wiest; Lawrence Kasdan‘s I Love You to Death (1990), with Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman, Joan Plowright, River Phoenix, and William Hurt; Kathryn Bigelow‘s Point Break (1991), with Patrick Swayze, Lori Petty and Gary Busey, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991), with Winter, Carlin, William Sadler, Joss Ackland, and Pam Grier; and Gus Van Sant‘s independent drama My Own Private Idaho (1991), with River Phoenix, where playing a street hustler received critical praise for his performance. He had a supporting role in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, with Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Cary Elwes, Tom Waits, and Anthony Hopkins; and Much Ado About Nothing (1993), with Kenneth Branagh (who also directed), Emma Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Kate Beckinsale, and Brian Blessed. The action thriller Speed (1994), with Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton, and Jeff Daniels; in which Reeves was cast as a police officer, garnered critical and commercial success, and helped Reeves gain further recognition. He followed this with a series of films box office failures, including: Johnny Mnemonic (1995), with with Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi Kitano, Ice-T, and Dina Meyer; Chain Reaction (1996), with Morgan Freeman, Rachel Weisz, Fred Ward, Kevin Dunn and Brian Cox; and The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997), with Thomas Jane, Adrien Brody, Gretchen Mol, and Claire Forlani. However, his performance in the supernatural horror The Devil’s Advocate (1997), with Al Pacino and Charlize Theron; was well received.

Global stardom followed soon after with his lead role as computer hacker Neo in The Wachowskis science fiction thriller The Matrix (1999), with Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano. The film was a commercial success and won four Academy Awards. He reprised the role in 3 sequels: The Matrix Reloaded (2003), with Fishburne, Moss, Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith, Gloria Foster; The Matrix Revolutions (2003), with Monica Bellucci, Lambert Wilson, and Mary Alice; and The Matrix Resurrections (2021), with Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Smith.

Other notable films in the 2000s include The Replacements (2000), with Gene Hackman, Orlando Jones, Rhys Ifans, Jon Favreau, and Jack Warden; Sam Raimi‘s The Gift (2000), with Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, and J.K. Simmons; Hardball (2001), with Diane Lane and Michael B. Jordan; and Something’s Gotta Give (2003), with Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Frances McDormand, Amanda Peet, and Favreau.

Notable films in the mid 2000s include Constantine (2005), with Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale, and Peter Stormare; Thumbsucker (2005), with Lou Taylor Pucci, Swinton, Vincent D’Onofrio, Kelli Garner, Benjamin Bratt, and Vince Vaughn. Richard Linklater‘s animated film A Scanner Darkly (2006), with Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, and Ryder; The Lake House (2006), with Bullock; The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), with with Jennifer Connelly, Jaden Smith, John Cleese, Jon Hamm, and Kathy Bates; Street Kings (2008), with Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Common and The Game; Rebecca Miller‘s The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), with Robin Wright, Alan Arkin, Maria Bello, Bellucci, Blake Lively, Julianne Moore, and Ryder. He made his directorial debut with Man of Tai Chi (2013), with Tiger Chen, Iko Uwais, Karen Mok and Simon Yam.

Reeves played the titular assassin in the neo-noir action thriller John Wick (2014), with Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe; which was a commercial success and was generally well-received. He returned to the John Wick franchise in the commercially successful sequels, John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), with Common, Fishburne, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ruby Rose, Lance Reddick, Peter Stormare, Bridget Moynahan, Franco Nero, Leguizamo, and McShane; John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019), with Halle Berry, Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Anjelica Huston, and McShane; and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), with Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown, and McShane. He’ll also appear as the character in the spin-off film Ballerina (2024), with Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, and McShane.

Other films mid to late 2010s include Knock Knock (2015), with Lorenza Izzo and de Armas; Exposed (2016), with de Armas, Christopher McDonald, Big Daddy Kane, and Mira Sorvino; Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon (2016), with Elle Fanning, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Desmond Harrington, and Christina Hendricks; Ana Lily Amirpour’s The Bad Batch (2016), with Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Jim Carrey, Giovanni Ribisi, and Diego Luna; The Whole Truth (2016), with Gabriel Basso, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Renée Zellweger, and Jim Belushi; To the Bone (2017), with Lily Collins, Carrie Preston, Lili Taylor, Alex Sharp, and Liana Liberato; Siberia (2018), with Destination Wedding (2018), with Ryder; Replicas (2018), with Alice Eve, Thomas Middleditch, and John Ortiz; Always Be My Maybe (2019), with Ali Wong, Randall Park, James Saito, Michelle Buteau, Vivian Bang, and Daniel Dae Kim; and a voice role in Pixar’s Toy Story 4 (2019), with Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Blake Clark, Jeff Pidgeon, Bonnie Hunt, Jeff Garlin, Kristen Schaal, Timothy Dalton, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Hendricks, and Ally Maki.

Films in the 2020s include The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020), with Tom Kenny, Awkwafina, Matt Berry, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Snoop Dogg, Bill Fagerbakke, Tiffany Haddish, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence, Danny Trejo, Reggie Watts; Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020), with Winter, Sadler, Kristen Schaal, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Anthony Carrigan, Erinn Hayes, Jayma Mays, Holland Taylor, Kid Cudi, Jillian Bell and Beck Bennett; a voice role in DC: League of Super-Pets (2022), with Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Luna, Marc Maron, Middleditch, Ben Schwartz.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Letting Go (1985) – directed by Jack Bender – TV movie
  • One Step Away (1985) – directed by Robert Fortier – short
  • Youngblood (1986) – directed, co-produced, and co-written by Peter Markle
  • Act of Vengeance (1986) – directed by John Mackenzie – TV movie
  • Young Again (1986) – directed by Steven Hilliard Stone – TV movie
  • Flying (1986) – directed by Paul Lynch
  • The Brotherhood of Justice (1986) – directed by Charles Braverman – TV movie
  • River’s Edge (1986) – directed by Tim Hunter
  • Under the Influence (1986) – directed by Thomas Carter – TV movie
  • Babes in Toyland (1986) – directed by Clive Donner – TV movie
  • The Night Before (1988) – directed by Thom Eberhardt
  • Permanent Record (1988) – directed by Marisa Silver
  • The Prince of Pennsylvania (1988) – directed by Ron Nyswaner
  • Dangerous Liaisons (1988) – directed by Stephen Frears
  • Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) – directed by Stephen Herek
  • Life Under Water (1989) – directed by Jay Holman – TV movie
  • Parenthood (1989) – by Ron Howard
  • I Love You to Death (1990) – directed by Lawrence Kasdan
  • Tune in Tomorrow (1990) – directed by Jon Amiel
  • Point Break (1991) – directed by Kathryn Bigelow
  • Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) – directed by Peter Hewitt
  • My Own Private Idaho (1991) – directed by Gus Van Sant
  • Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) – directed by Francis Ford Coppola
  • Much Ado About Nothing (1993) – directed by Kenneth Branagh
  • Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) – directed by Gus Van Sant
  • Freaked (1993) – directed by Tom Stern & Alex Winter – uncredited cameo
  • Little Buddha (1993) – directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
  • Speed (1994) – directed by Jan de Bont
  • Johnny Mnemonic (1995) – directed by Robert Longo
  • A Walk in the Clouds (1995)* – directed by Alfonso Arau
  • Chain Reaction (1996) – directed by Andrew Davis
  • Feeling Minnesota (1996) – directed by Steven Baigelman
  • The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997) – directed by Stephen T. Kay
  • The Devil’s Advocate (1997) – directed by Taylor Hackford
  • The Matrix (1999)** – directed by The Wachowskis
  • Me and Will (1999) – directed by Melissa Behr & Sherrie Rose – uncredited cameo as himself
  • The Replacements (2000)* – directed by Howard Deutch
  • The Watcher (2000) – directed by Joe Charbanic
  • The Gift (2000) – directed by Sam Raimi
  • Sweet November (2001) – directed by Pat O’Connor
  • Hardball (2001) – directed by Brian Robbins
  • The Matrix Reloaded (2003) – directed by The Wachowskis
  • The Animatrix (2003) – directed by Kōji Morimoto, Shinichiro Watanabe, Mahiro Maeda, Peter Chung, Andy Jones, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, & Takeshi Koike – anthology
  • The Matrix Revolutions (2003)* – directed by The Wachowskis
  • Something’s Gotta Give (2003)* – directed by Nancy Meyers
  • Constantine (2005) – directed by Francis Lawrence
  • Thumbsucker (2005) – directed by Mike Mills
  • Ellie Parker (2005) – directed by Scott Coffey
  • A Scanner Darkly (2006) – directed by Richard Linklater
  • The Lake House (2006) – directed by Alejandro Agresti
  • The Great Warming (2006) – directed by Michael Taylor – narrator – documentary
  • Street Kings (2008) – directed by David Ayer
  • The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) – directed by Scott Derrickson
  • The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009) – directed by Rebecca Miller
  • Henry’s Crime (2010) – directed by Malcolm Venville
  • Side by Side (2012) – directed by Christopher Kenneally – also producer – documentary
  • Generation Um… (2012) – directed by Mark L Mann
  • Man of Tai Chi (2013) – also director
  • 47 Ronin (2013)* – directed by Carl Rinsch
  • John Wick (2014) – directed by Chad Stahelski
  • Knock Knock (2015) – directed by Eli Roth – also executive producer
  • Deep Web (2015) – directed by Alex Winter – narrator – documentary
  • Mifune: The Last Samurai (2015) – directed by Steven Okazaki – narrator – documentary
  • Exposed (2016) – directed by Gee Malik Linton (credited as Declan Dale) – also producer
  • Keanu (2016)* – directed by Peter Atencio – voice cameo
  • The Neon Demon (2016) – directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
  • The Bad Batch (2016) – directed by Ana Lily Amirpour
  • The Whole Truth (2016) – directed by Courtney Hunt
  • To the Bone (2017) – directed by Marti Noxon
  • John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)* – directed by Chad Stahelski
  • A Happening of Monumental Proportions (2017) – directed by Judy Greer – cameo
  • SPF-18 (2017) – directed by Alex Israel – cameo as himself
  • Siberia (2018) – directed by Matthew Ross – also producer
  • Destination Wedding (2018) – directed by Victor Levin
  • Replicas (2018) – directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff – also producer
  • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)* – directed by Chad Stahelski
  • Always Be My Maybe (2019) – directed by Nahnatchka Khan
  • Toy Story 4 (2019)* – directed by Josh Cooley
  • Already Gone (2019) – directed by Christopher Kenneally – executive producer only
  • Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019) – directed by Scott Aukerman – cameo as himself
  • The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020) – directed by Tim Hill
  • Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)* – directed by Dean Parisot
  • The Matrix Resurrections (2021) – directed by Lana Wachowski
  • DC League of Super-Pets (2022) – directed by Jared Stern & by Sam J. Levine
  • John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)* – directed by Chad Stahelski – also executive producer
  • Ballerina (2024) – directed by Len Wiseman