Keanu Reeves: Age, Biography, Career and Facts

Keanu Reeves (born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor, musician and writer, the star of The Matrix, John Wick and Speed, and bassist of the rock band Dogstar. This profile covers his biography, full movie list, young years, relationships, recent projects and Keanu Reeves news as of October 2026.

Age

Keanu Reeves was born on September 2, 1964 and is 62 years old.

Who is Keanu Reeves?

Keanu Charles Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and raised mainly in Toronto. He became famous as the easygoing Ted in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and then as an action star in Point Break, Speed, The Matrix and the John Wick series, one of the most successful action franchises of the 21st century. In 2020 The New York Times placed him fourth in its list of the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century, and he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005.

Reeves is also widely known for his reputation off screen. Crew members and fans regularly share stories of his politeness and generosity, and he is often described as one of the most down-to-earth stars in Hollywood. Alongside acting, he plays bass in Dogstar, co-created the comic book series BRZRKR, co-wrote a novel with China Miéville and made his Broadway debut in 2025.

Keanu Reeves in numbers

Indicator	Value
Birth date and place	September 2, 1964, Beirut, Lebanon
Nationality	Canadian
Most famous roles	Neo (The Matrix), John Wick, Jack Traven (Speed), Ted (Bill & Ted), Johnny Utah (Point Break)
Matrix films	4 (1999, 2003, 2003, 2021)
John Wick films	4 main films (2014–2023), plus Ballerina (2025); a fifth chapter announced
Hollywood Walk of Fame	Star received in 2005
Directorial debut	Man of Tai Chi (2013)
Music	Dogstar (bass guitar)
Broadway debut	Waiting for Godot (2025)

Keanu Reeves young: childhood in Toronto

Reeves was born in Beirut to Patricia Taylor, an English-born costume designer and performer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves Jr., an American from Hawaii of Native Hawaiian, Chinese and English descent. His first name is Hawaiian and is often translated as "cool breeze over the mountains." His parents separated when he was a toddler, and his mother moved with Keanu and his younger sister Kim to Sydney and New York before settling in Toronto, where he grew up and later became a Canadian citizen.

As a teenager he attended four high schools in five years, including the Etobicoke School of the Arts, and struggled with dyslexia. He was a talented ice hockey goaltender, earning the nickname "The Wall," and dreamed of playing for Canada at the Olympics until injuries ended that ambition. He decided at 15 to become an actor, began appearing in Toronto theater and commercials, and left school at 17 without graduating.

His sister Kim was diagnosed with leukemia in the early 1990s, and Reeves supported her through years of treatment. He has been reported to support cancer research and children's hospitals, but rarely discusses it publicly.

From Bill & Ted to Speed (1984–1998)

Reeves made his screen debut on the Canadian series Hangin' In (1984) and his feature debut in the hockey drama Youngblood (1986). After River's Edge (1986) and Dangerous Liaisons (1988), his breakthrough came with the time-travel comedy Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), opposite Alex Winter. Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho (1991), with his friend River Phoenix, showed his range as a dramatic actor.

Kathryn Bigelow's surf heist film Point Break (1991), in which he played FBI agent Johnny Utah, and Jan de Bont's Speed (1994), as police officer Jack Traven trapped on a bus with Sandra Bullock, made him an action star. He also played Jonathan Harker in Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), appeared in Little Buddha (1993) and Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing (1993), and starred opposite Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate (1997).

Bill & Ted: a 30-year partnership

The Bill & Ted films are central to Reeves' career and to one of his longest friendships. In Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), he and Alex Winter play two good-natured but hopeless San Dimas teenagers who travel through time in a phone booth to pass their history exam, collecting Napoleon, Socrates and Joan of Arc along the way. The low-budget comedy became a surprise hit, and its catchphrases, "Excellent!" and "Be excellent to each other," entered pop culture. The sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991), sent the pair to the afterlife, where they beat Death at board games.

For years Reeves and Winter talked about a third film, and Bill & Ted Face the Music was finally released in 2020, with the two now middle-aged fathers trying to write a song that will unite the world. Their on-screen partnership moved to the stage in 2025, when they played the tramps Vladimir and Estragon in Waiting for Godot on Broadway, a casting that critics read partly as a reflection on the friendship audiences had watched for decades.

The Matrix (1999–2021)

The Wachowskis' The Matrix (1999) gave Reeves his defining role as Neo, a hacker who discovers that reality is a computer simulation. Its "bullet time" effects and Hong Kong-style fight choreography changed action filmmaking, and Reeves trained for months in martial arts despite recovering from neck surgery. The film won four Oscars, all in technical categories. He returned for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both 2003), and, nearly two decades later, for Lana Wachowski's The Matrix Resurrections (2021).

Between and after the Matrix films he starred in The Replacements (2000), Something's Gotta Give (2003), Constantine (2005), The Lake House (2006), reuniting with Sandra Bullock, and The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008). In 2013 he directed and starred in the martial arts film Man of Tai Chi and played in the samurai fantasy 47 Ronin.

John Wick (2014–2025)

After a quieter period, Reeves returned to the top in John Wick (2014), directed by his former Matrix stunt coordinator Chad Stahelski with David Leitch. He plays a retired hitman pulled back into the criminal underworld after the killing of his dog, a gift from his late wife. The film's long, cleanly shot fight scenes, built around Reeves' extensive firearms and judo training, made it a cult hit and spawned John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and Chapter 4 (2023), each larger than the last.

Reeves reprised the role in the spin-off Ballerina (2025), starring Ana de Armas. At CinemaCon in April 2025, Lionsgate announced that John Wick: Chapter 5 is in development, with Reeves returning and Stahelski directing.

Keanu Reeves now: 2024–2026

Reeves has kept a varied schedule in recent years. He voiced Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024) and played a well-meaning angel in Aziz Ansari's comedy Good Fortune (2025). In 2025 he made his Broadway debut opposite his Bill & Ted co-star Alex Winter in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Hudson Theatre; it opened on September 28, 2025, recouped its investment and ran until January 4, 2026.

In 2026 he starred in Outcome, Jonah Hill's satire about a beloved Hollywood star whose career is threatened by a mysterious videotape, with Cameron Diaz and Hill in supporting roles. Apple released it globally on April 10, 2026. Reviews were mixed, though critics in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety singled out Reeves' sincere performance. In June 2026 Dogstar performed at the Tons of Rock festival in Oslo.

Keanu Reeves movies: filmography

Year	Movie	Role
1986	River's Edge	Matt
1989	Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure	Ted Logan
1991	Point Break	Johnny Utah
1991	My Own Private Idaho	Scott Favor
1992	Bram Stoker's Dracula	Jonathan Harker
1994	Speed	Jack Traven
1997	The Devil's Advocate	Kevin Lomax
1999	The Matrix	Neo
2003	The Matrix Reloaded / Revolutions	Neo
2003	Something's Gotta Give	Dr. Julian Mercer
2005	Constantine	John Constantine
2006	The Lake House	Alex Wyler
2013	Man of Tai Chi	Donaka Mark (also director)
2014	John Wick	John Wick
2017	John Wick: Chapter 2	John Wick
2019	John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum	John Wick
2019	Toy Story 4	Duke Caboom (voice)
2020	Bill & Ted Face the Music	Ted Logan
2021	The Matrix Resurrections	Neo / Thomas Anderson
2023	John Wick: Chapter 4	John Wick
2024	Sonic the Hedgehog 3	Shadow (voice)
2025	Ballerina	John Wick
2025	Good Fortune	Gabriel
2026	Outcome	Lead role

He also voiced and played Johnny Silverhand in the video game Cyberpunk 2077 (2020).

Dogstar, BRZRKR and books

In the early 1990s Reeves co-founded the rock band Dogstar with drummer Robert Mailhouse, playing bass; singer and guitarist Bret Domrose joined soon after. The band toured in the 1990s and released two records before going on a long hiatus. It reunited for the album Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees (2023), followed by tours of North America and Japan, and in 2026 the band played European festivals, including Tons of Rock in Oslo.

With BOOM! Studios he co-created BRZRKR (2021–2023), a 12-issue comic about an immortal half-god warrior; its first issue became one of the best-selling comic debuts in years, and Netflix announced a live-action film and an anime series based on it, with Reeves attached to star. In 2024 he and British author China Miéville published The Book of Elsewhere, a novel set in the BRZRKR world, which reached The New York Times best-seller list. Earlier, with Alexandra Grant, he published the art books Ode to Happiness (2011) and Shadows (2016).

Awards and recognition

Reeves has never been nominated for an Academy Award, and his career has been shaped more by audience affection than by awards. His recognition includes a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, unveiled on January 31, 2005; MTV Movie Awards for Speed and The Matrix, including Best Male Performance for The Matrix; and a place on The New York Times' 2020 list of the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century, where critics praised the stillness and sincerity that critics in the 1990s often mistook for blankness. The Matrix itself won four Academy Awards in technical categories at the 2000 ceremony, and the John Wick series has been credited with reviving interest in practical, stunt-driven action filmmaking and launching the careers of its directors, former stuntmen Chad Stahelski and David Leitch.

Keanu Reeves wife and partner

Reeves has never been married. In the late 1990s he was in a relationship with Jennifer Syme. Their daughter, Ava, was stillborn in December 1999, and in April 2001 Syme died in a car accident in Los Angeles. Reeves has rarely spoken about these losses, which, together with the death of his close friend River Phoenix in 1993, shaped the public image of him as a private, reflective person.

Since 2019 he has been publicly in a relationship with Los Angeles-based visual artist Alexandra Grant, with whom he had previously collaborated on two books and co-founded the art publishing house X Artists' Books. The couple regularly appear together at premieres and gala events. Reeves is also a keen motorcyclist and co-founded the custom motorcycle company ARCH Motorcycle in 2011.

Quick facts

Full name	Keanu Charles Reeves
Born	September 2, 1964
Birthplace	Beirut, Lebanon
Raised in	Toronto, Canada
Occupation	Actor, musician, director, writer
Most famous movies	The Matrix, John Wick, Speed, Point Break
Band	Dogstar
Honors	Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2005)
Partner	Alexandra Grant

Timeline

• September 2, 1964: Born in Beirut
• 1984: Debut in the series Hangin' In
• 1989: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
• 1991: Point Break and My Own Private Idaho
• 1994: Speed
• March 1999: The Matrix released
• 2003: The Matrix sequels
• 2005: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• 2013: Directorial debut with Man of Tai Chi
• October 24, 2014: John Wick released
• 2019: Went public with Alexandra Grant
• March 2021: First issue of BRZRKR
• 2023: John Wick: Chapter 4 and Dogstar's comeback album
• September 28, 2025: Broadway debut in Waiting for Godot
• April 10, 2026: Outcome released on Apple TV
• June 2026: Dogstar at Tons of Rock in Oslo

Photo: Gabriel Hutchinson, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons