The Matrix Revolutions, Keanu Reeves
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The Matrix Revolutions

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Reeves guards his privacy, and not without reason. He's had some hard knocks over the years, and not just from the spills he's taken on his beloved hogs. His sister Kim's battle with leukemia (and his tremendous financial support both for her and for cancer research) is a verboten subject, as is the tragedy surrounding his late girlfriend, Jennifer Syme. (Their baby was stillborn in 1999; a breakup soon followed, and in April 2001, Syme died in a car accident.)

Fortune's door has swung both ways. Reeves' ''Matrix'' deal, reportedly a combined $30 million for the last two movies, against 15 percent of their gross, would put his total compensation between $100 million and $150 million. He's performed some quiet heroics to redress that karmic imbalance, reportedly distributing a few million of that sum to crew members.

But Reeves generally prefers his heroics gray, not black-and-white, which is why he's so fond of John Constantine, his next major screen incarnation. In ''Constantine,'' he plays a bloke who's on barely speaking terms with both heaven and hell. ''And he hates them both,'' Reeves reports with great satisfaction. ''I think that was actually always the attractive thing about Batman -- he had some kind of inner demon.'' He contemplates this for a second, then grins wistfully. ''But I didn't get to play that guy. Now I'm too old.''

Keanu Reeves turning 40 is hard to imagine, if you're not Keanu Reeves. If you are Keanu Reeves, however, it's easy. ''I'm feeling 39, that's for sure. So I'm sure I'll feel 40, too.'' He laughs. ''Forty: Here comes a crisis. Forty: Here comes the mortality reflection....I've ordered the Ferrari. I'm going to get the whole midlife-crisis package.''

(This is an online-only excerpt of Entertainment Weekly's Nov. 7, 2003, cover story.)

Originally posted Oct 30, 2003 Published in issue #736 Nov 07, 2003 Order article reprints
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