Reeves, Keanu Charles (1964- )

Lebanese-born US actor. He rose to fame in lightweight comedy films in the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1990). He subsequently had great success in action-adventure films such as Point Break (1991), Speed (1994), and the Matrix trilogy (1999-2003). In a change of tone, he charmed audiences as the sensitive doctor in the romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give (2003).

Throughout his career Reeves has maintained contact with the independent film sector - in River's Edge (1987), My Own Private Idaho (1991), and Feeling Minnesota (1996), for example - while also establishing himself as a big box-office draw in mainstream Hollywood productions. Other films include Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Dracula (1992), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Little Buddha (1993), Johnny Mnemonic (1995), The Devil's Advocate (1997), Sweet November (2001), Hardball (2001), Constantine (2005), and A Scanner Darkly (2006).

He was born in Beirut, Lebanon. After his parents divorced, he moved with his mother and sister to New York, then Toronto, where he played ice hockey in high school. He left school to pursue an acting career, and appeared in the hockey film Youngblood (1986) with US actor Rob Lowe. He moved to Los Angeles, California, shortly after.

He has also experimented in the world of popular music, playing bass guitar in his band Dogstar.