Watch Keanu Reeves' Journey to Action Star in RARE Interviews (ET Vault Unlocked)
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00:00Tonight, Keanu Reeves, never before seen interviews spanning four decades.
00:08Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
00:12From his showbiz start, who's your coach?
00:14My dad.
00:15To his first time on ET.
00:17I can't wait to see it, you know?
00:19Plus the role that changed his life.
00:22ET was behind the scenes of all his blockbusters.
00:28Bill and Ted.
00:29Excellent!
00:30Point Break.
00:31Gah!
00:32Speed.
00:33I think we've destroyed eight cameras, is it?
00:36The Matrix.
00:37I trained for about four months.
00:40And more.
00:41I guess I'm a little speechless.
00:43Plus why everyone loves Keanu.
00:45He's a nice guy in the world.
00:47One of the most caring, hardworking people I've ever worked with.
00:52That's Keanu, ladies and gentlemen.
00:54Keanu Reeves.
00:55ET Vault Unlocked, Keanu Reeves starts now.
00:59Am I blushing?
01:00I think I'm blushing.
01:03From Point Break to Speed, buckle up for Keanu's excellent ET adventure.
01:08Welcome everybody to Entertainment Tonight.
01:10Yes, the internet's boyfriend is a man of many talents, not to mention beloved by all
01:14his co-stars.
01:16So we're diving deep into the archives to celebrate Keanu, the humble hero.
01:21I hope something gets out there that is magic.
01:24Um, you know, and if not, I'll just be sad and cry.
01:29I mean, I'm not looking for any one part.
01:32I'm interested in variety.
01:34Well, Keanu has mastered the Hollywood Matrix.
01:37The skilled musician and actor can tackle any film genre, from animated, like his latest
01:42Sonic 3.
01:43You're a colorful bunch.
01:45To action, romance, comedy, and...
01:48Reciting Shakespeare to the entire crew.
01:51I am not a man of many words, but I thank you.
01:55So what else makes Keanu King?
01:57Pretty much everything.
01:58I have...
02:00I had a pretty, pretty big, healthy crush on a guy.
02:05I had a big, healthy crush on you, too.
02:07And, um, oh, it's still, it's still, it's still raging.
02:12He's the least judgmental person I've ever met.
02:14Keanu's very tall, much taller than I realized.
02:19And he is one of the most disciplined, caring, hardworking people I've ever worked with.
02:26I've been told by many of our mutual friends that he's the nicest guy in the world.
02:30He's amazing.
02:31He's a nice guy.
02:32It's the truth.
02:33Keep going.
02:34Yes.
02:35I know.
02:36I could.
02:37I could.
02:38I could spend a good 20 minutes right here.
02:39But Mr. Nice Guy also has a need for speed.
02:41Keanu Reeves goes for a slide.
02:43He made his pro racing debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October, and he knows his
02:48way around a bike.
02:49We caught Keanu cruising up to Robert Downey Jr.'s wedding in 2005.
02:55And there's no depths this diehard won't go to for a role, like turning full samurai for
03:0047 Ronin.
03:01Up, down.
03:02Yeah, I did some training, and then the director wanted us to do Japanese versions of the scenes.
03:10Some of the awesome what I've done.
03:12The year after Speed, Keanu rode the bus from Denver to St. Paul, just to make feeling Minnesota
03:18feel more believable.
03:19My character rides on a bus, and it's only about, what, 24 hours, 22 hours of traveling.
03:25Are you critical of yourself?
03:26I'm a Virgo.
03:27Are you really hard on yourself?
03:28I'm a Virgo.
03:29Virgos are critical of themselves.
03:31Yes, Keanu's relatability makes him the perfect muse for me.
03:35I admire who he is as a person, and I think if I really didn't admire who he was, I don't
03:40think I could have the affection for him that I do.
03:44So where did it all start?
03:48In commercials, fresh-faced and enthusiastic, Keanu starred in ads for Corn Flakes and
03:52Coca-Cola.
03:53Who's your coach?
03:54My dad.
03:55When you decided to be an actor, I don't know how young that was for you.
04:0015.
04:0115, okay.
04:02I've always wanted to do different kinds of roles.
04:04Basically, I wanted to do everything.
04:06I want to do everything, if I can.
04:08And his first ET interview, that was 1985.
04:12I haven't seen it.
04:13I can't wait to see it, you know?
04:15The actor was just 20 years old and wrapping up the TV movie Young Again.
04:19I'm a kid.
04:20I'm a kid.
04:21I'm a kid.
04:22Keanu played a 40-year-old businessman stuck in the body of a teenager.
04:26He was going by KC back then, short for Keanu Charles.
04:30I can feel it.
04:31I mean, I'm having fun, and I can, it feels real.
04:34We played back that interview for him almost 30 years later.
04:38Oh my gosh.
04:39Oh, I remember that shirt.
04:41That was a big break for me.
04:43You know, I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and I wanted to act in films and go to Hollywood.
04:50And I got to play a lead in an American movie of the week.
04:54It helped me get an agent in Hollywood.
04:56Wild stallion!
04:58His even bigger break came in 1989 with Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
05:02I am Ted of San Dimas.
05:05I enjoyed the character.
05:06I thought it was really kind of a great, goofy movie.
05:13Keanu and co-star Alex Winter's slacker chemistry, combined with some pretty epic lines...
05:17Party on, dudes!
05:19...turned them into overnight sensations.
05:21You see the kids, like, going, you know, and they go, dude, and, you know, and it's just
05:26a boo, I guess.
05:28And it's cool.
05:29I kind of had him in my body for a long time.
05:31Ted, I'm feeling blue.
05:33Where are you?
05:34Dude, don't be down.
05:37It's all okay.
05:40Oh, come on.
05:43Two years later, E.T. was on set of the sequel, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.
05:47Action!
05:48We're 21 now.
05:49Basically, there's this bad guy named Denomolos in the future who wants to change the past
05:52so that the present, his present, which is our future, will be different.
05:56Credits roll.
05:57It's really good.
05:58E.T. watched another bromance blossom in Hawaii.
06:02That's where Keanu learned to surf for his first action film, Point Break, with Patrick
06:06Swayze.
06:08When I found out that I was going to be playing the part, I went to Kauai for a week and chased
06:14the surf there.
06:15I got slammed.
06:18Do you know who this is?
06:19This is Johnny Utah.
06:20A behind-the-scenes secret?
06:22Patrick told us Keanu wasn't the first choice to play the undercover agent.
06:26Looked like it was going to be me and Charlie Sheen.
06:28Would you ever see yourself as an action adventure kind of guy?
06:30Sure.
06:31Definitely.
06:32Five years later, Keanu hit the gas on his action ambitions with Speed.
06:36And he took E.T. along for the ride.
06:39I've leapt at around 45 miles an hour from a car, a Jaguar, whose door was ripped off
06:45into the front doors of a bus, I guess about maybe five and a half feet across.
06:52I've also got to drive fairly quickly, like 50 miles an hour in and out of traffic.
06:57Why did I take this job?
06:58Yeah, I think we destroyed eight cameras, is it?
07:02In the attempt to really involve the audience in the action, we got a bus with a bomb on it.
07:07Two people stuck on a subway train that they can't stop.
07:10Did you have a lot of preparation, a lot of training?
07:13I had about seven weeks of weightlifting, and then I did about a month and a half of gymnastics.
07:19I took gymnastics to try and get to know my body better.
07:23Keanu did most of his own stunts, even trading in his long hair for this signature buzz.
07:29My hair was about this long when I first met with Yonda Bond, the director.
07:33The next day, I'm shaved.
07:36I walk in and Yonda's like, what have you done?
07:40Add the chemistry between Keanu and Sandra Bullock in her breakout role,
07:44and you've got one of the highest-grossing films of 1994.
07:48That's Keanu, ladies and gentlemen. Keanu Reeves.
07:51I like him, he's a good kid. I had a great kid.
07:53Oh, and also, should I say, he had a big kiss.
07:57Whatever you say, man.
07:58To fall in love with Sandra Bullock is not very difficult. It was a good day.
08:01Another good day? When Keanu got the role of Neo in The Matrix,
08:05after contending with a handful of Hollywood megastars, including Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and Johnny Depp.
08:12All I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.
08:21Action hero, Keanu Reeves. How do you feel about that?
08:25After this movie, my gosh.
08:26Can I be a drum action hero, maybe, for this film?
08:29Drum action instead of action, if we're going to use, you know, slogans.
08:34Whoa.
08:35Action.
08:36It does have heart and soul and compassion.
08:39Oh, and the fighting.
08:42I trained for, I guess, about four months.
08:45Right now, you're on the ship. This is a rebel craft called the Nebuchadnezzar.
08:50Of course, E.T. was on location in Sydney, Australia, in 1998,
08:54getting a first-hand look at everything from the props...
08:58...to the set, which was still getting the finishing touches.
09:09Iconic scenes like this change the game for special effects and filmmaking.
09:13Neo's gravity-defined, bullet-dodging moment was created using around 100 cameras
09:19to make it feel like time was slowing down.
09:21And when it came to the sequels, you know they kicked it up a notch.
09:25It pushes you to your limits. To my limits, at least.
09:29What about injuries?
09:30Just minor aches and cuts and, you know, ice baths at night.
09:36After take 72 of Kung Fu, you know, ice is good.
09:41The Matrix reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions were filmed simultaneously.
09:46Shooting took around 22 months.
09:48Did you lose a lot of weight, or did you change your physique in any way?
09:51It was kind of like a Neo diet.
09:53Which consists of...
09:55Oatmeal and egg whites and steamed fish.
09:59From Los Angeles to Cannes to London to Tokyo,
10:02E.T. was there as the movies premiered around the world.
10:06In total, the four-film franchise has grossed nearly $1.5 billion at the box office.
10:12If you had the choice of taking the blue or the red pill, which one would you take?
10:16I'll take the red pill.
10:17Why?
10:18Because more stuff happens.
10:20You know, it's the agonies and the ecstasies.
10:28I was like hanging around and got this call,
10:31and Paula Abdul, you want to do a video?
10:33And they had a cool premise, and kind of like, yeah.
10:37The year, 1991.
10:39Keanu, fresh off the success of Bill & Ted,
10:42was cast in Paula Abdul's Rush Rush music video,
10:45an homage to the James Dean classic Rebel Without a Cause.
10:49Paula giving us this behind-the-scenes visual.
10:52I hadn't met him yet.
10:54He had his own trailer, walked up the steps,
10:56knocked on the door, and the door was cracked open,
10:59and he had headphones on, and he was air guitaring full on in his underwear.
11:04And I just was like, okay, I'm going to back up.
11:07She's like, back it on up for a second.
11:09But look, that tracks because even back then,
11:12Keanu was all about that rock star life.
11:19I don't sing in the band.
11:20No, I play in a band, and I play electric bass.
11:23People tend to have a good time at our shows, which is weird.
11:27Keanu's band, Dogstar, has been making music together since 1991.
11:31Robert Mailhouse is on drums, and Brett Dumrose is the lead singer.
11:35As for the name?
11:36We got it from a book, a Henry Miller book.
11:38I met Keanu in a Mayfair market.
11:42I was buying groceries, and I had a hockey jersey on.
11:45And we ended up playing ice hockey and then just playing music together.
11:52It's a double-edged sword having Keanu Reeves in the band.
11:54It's crazy. It's nutty.
11:56And it ruffles people's feathers to think someone can do two things with their life.
12:00I mean, I'm an actor, so that's the bottom line.
12:04Sometimes you act like a bass player.
12:05And sometimes I act like a bass player.
12:08Dogstar took a hiatus in 2002 as Keanu was riding the massive wave of The Matrix.
12:14But they reunited in 2022 and dropped their third album last year.
12:18So what's the ultimate goal with the band?
12:21The ultimate goal?
12:23No, as long as we get to keep making records, and we keep wanting to make records,
12:26and we get to remain friends and everything, it's a good life.
12:38How's the love life? What's going on, Keanu?
12:40Am I blushing? I think I'm blushing.
12:44How do I say this nicely?
12:46None of anyone's business.
12:48I don't answer personal questions.
12:51That's kind of my modus operandi.
12:53Because, I mean, who cares?
12:56Yeah, Keanu has always been fiercely private.
12:59But today, he's not afraid of a little PDA.
13:02That's the star snuggling up to his partner of five years, artist Alexandra Grant.
13:07You know, you can't order that up.
13:10You have to find the magic.
13:12Believe it or not, Keanu's never been married.
13:14Despite his It Girl co-stars and love scene so real,
13:18they sent the rumor mill into overdrive.
13:21I think he's pretty hot for the screen.
13:24I think women are definitely taken by him.
13:26What do you think of him?
13:27Fine!
13:29There's all these girls, like 14-year-old girls who are like out of their minds.
13:33A year after Speed, our cameras captured the fan frenzy on set of Feeling Minnesota,
13:38and the aftermath of this steamy hookup with co-star Cameron Diaz.
13:43We didn't really kiss, we more hit home base.
13:46Things got even hotter in 1997's The Devil's Advocate with a then 22-year-old Charlize Theron.
13:53Make love to me.
13:54Yep, they both bared it all.
13:56The butt shot, that's me.
13:59That's just embarrassing.
14:01And when they re-teamed nearly four years later for Sweet November,
14:04a few scenes were even deleted to avoid an R rating.
14:08So are we going to see you guys in a movie together again?
14:10Sure, I'll do it.
14:12Do I have to twist your arm?
14:14Absolutely not.
14:15The two never confirmed a romance, but you cannot deny that chemistry.
14:20Or his connection with Sandra Bullock.
14:2212 years after Speed, they locked lips again in the lake house.
14:27He waited.
14:30How was it kissing again?
14:32It was like coming home.
14:36We kept in touch over the years.
14:38With letters and dinners.
14:40It just works with him, and I don't know why.
14:44Turns out, that spark we saw on set in 1993 was very real.
14:49That's it!
14:50I think of how handsome he was.
14:53Did y'all get together? Did you date him?
14:55Never dated him.
14:56Did you know that she had a crush on you?
14:58No.
15:00She obviously didn't know I had a crush on her either.
15:03Oh wow!
15:05Everybody always wants to know if you guys are getting together for another Speed movie.
15:08Oh my gosh, no I think that bus is left.
15:11When hell freezes over is something that just immediately comes to mind.
15:15Speed 3, when hell freezes over.
15:21Now we know Keanu isn't against a good revival.
15:24Do you know what I'm talking about?
15:26The Matrix.
15:29While he shut down any possible hope for a fourth Matrix film in 2003.
15:33My story is told.
15:35Neo was brought back to life 18 years later in The Matrix Resurrections.
15:40I remember this.
15:41What was it like for you two when you got the phone call?
15:45It came out of the blue and it was quite shocking.
15:49Also shocking, a Bill and Ted reunion after nearly 30 years.
15:53Party on dudes!
15:55The third adventure was partially made possible thanks to the massive success of John Wick.
16:00Keanu's debut as a retired assassin raked in $86 million at the box office.
16:05About four times its production budget.
16:08Time flies when you're having fun and the first John Wick changed my life.
16:12In October the franchise celebrated its 10th anniversary.
16:15E.T. was with the then 49 year old on the New York set at the very beginning.
16:20Action!
16:21In this project I got a lot of training with the jujitsu and judo and got to do some driving.
16:27There's car food, gun food.
16:30Even Halle Berry knew she had to bring her butt whoop in A Game when she joined the cast in 2019.
16:35I've done action movies and then I've done John Wick.
16:39I worked six months, probably almost five days a week in training.
16:44Two, three hours.
16:45And it shows.
16:46Those who cling to death live.
16:51Do you have more in you for the franchise?
16:56You know, when you love something you always have a little bit more.
17:02Describe the rest of your life in five words.
17:05Health.
17:06Love.
17:07Friendship.
17:09Create art.
17:11Motorcycles.
17:13Keanu Reeves with that six word response to Stephen Colbert.
17:17We're going to leave you now with a few more gems from Keanu that you never heard before.
17:20Take care y'all.
17:21Goodnight.
17:25You're an athlete, right?
17:26Yeah, I don't know about that.
17:28Okay, I'll take athletic.
17:31Here comes Falco.
17:32In 1999, E.T. met Keanu, the quarterback, as he filmed The Replacements.
17:36Got as many of the NFL films that I could get my hands on.
17:40Steve Young, Terry Bradshaw, those kinds of guys.
17:44I just want to play.
17:45I can't let you play.
17:47And yes, it was Keanu who helped usher Michael B. Jordan into Hollywood in Hardball.
17:52We met MBJ at the premiere of his first movie in 2001 when he was just 14 years old.
17:58It's a good story for kids and adults, both alike.
18:01It's a strong message.
18:03A couple of kids had seen some films that I'd been in and they really liked The Matrix.
18:09I heard they were relentless about The Matrix.
18:12Sometimes, but it was nice.
18:15Give me a high five!