Keanu Reeves' 63rd Birthday Countdown

Keanu Reeves Timeline

About Keanu Reeves

From Bill & Ted to The Matrix and John Wick, Reeves headlined three generations of action classics, and became as famous for his quiet generosity and humility as for the films themselves.

The goalie they called The Wall

Before Hollywood, Reeves was a Toronto high-school hockey goalie so hard to score on that teammates nicknamed him 'The Wall.' He broke through as the lovable airhead Ted in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), reinvented himself as an action star in Speed (1994), then bet everything on a strange sci-fi script about a hacker who learns reality is a simulation. The Matrix (1999) turned 'whoa' into a career-defining moment and made Neo one of cinema's iconic roles.

Three franchises, four decades of hits

Few actors have headlined era-defining action movies in the '80s, '90s, 2000s, and 2020s. The Matrix trilogy grossed a combined $1.63 billion worldwide. Then, when many had written him off, a lean 2014 revenge thriller called John Wick grew into a juggernaut: the franchise has now passed $1 billion at the global box office, with Chapter 4 alone earning over $425 million - the series' biggest entry, released when Reeves was 58 years old.

The foundation with no name on it

After his younger sister Kim was diagnosed with leukemia in 1991, Reeves became her caregiver and quietly funded much of her treatment - she has been in remission for decades. He later created a private foundation supporting children's hospitals and cancer research, telling an interviewer, 'I don't like to attach my name to it, I just let the foundation do what it does.' He has backed Stand Up To Cancer and SickKids, and famously gave Harley-Davidsons to the entire Matrix Reloaded stunt team.

Quick facts

• Born September 2, 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon
• Nicknamed 'The Wall' as a high-school hockey goalie in Toronto
• The John Wick films have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide
• Plays bass in Dogstar, which released its first album in 23 years in 2023
• Co-founded ARCH Motorcycle in 2011
• Gave Harley-Davidson motorcycles to the entire Matrix Reloaded stunt team

Keanu Reeves' biggest films