Maintaining a certain level of stardom for 35 years and counting takes a special sort of charisma and appeal, something Keanu Reeves possesses in quantities more than most, considering he’s spent the bulk of his career being bombarded with accusations that he’s not even all that good at his day job.
The majority of big-name performers in Hollywood who enjoy decades in the limelight often tend to be recognised for their dramatic range, versatility, and gravitas, as well as their innate wattage, but Reeves has overcome the repeated criticisms aimed in the direction of his limited abilities to become one of the most popular and beloved figures in the industry.
It helps that he found himself a niche as one of cinema’s greatest-ever action heroes, though, with roles in Point Break, Speed, The Matrix franchise, and the ongoing John Wick saga guaranteeing that if there’s ever a lull in momentum or a dip in visibility, all he has to do is pick up a gun, mow down some bad guys, and he’ll be right back on top again.
Of course, he didn’t arrive on the scene with designs on conquering the action arena, with Reeves initially garnering notice for his introspective, thoughtful turns in dramas like River’s Edge and My Own Private Idaho, which he balanced with his breakthrough comedic performance in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
However, he could have made one of his first big screen appearances in a ‘Best Picture’-winning classic, only to turn down the opportunity for the most ironic of reasons.
History has shown in the decades since that he’s not averse to dropping a body or ten when the occasion calls for it, but Stone recalled that “he didn’t want to do violence” at the time.
When his star reached another level following Jan De Bont’s high-octane Speed, Reeves was also being lined up for a part in another future classic, but he reportedly declined the Chris Shiherlis character inhabited by Val Kilmer in Michael Mann’s Heat because he was already booked up performing Hamlet and treading the boards in Canada.
Kilmer was excellent in the seminal crime thriller, and it’s difficult to imagine Reeves filling those shoes to anywhere near the same extent, although it’s admittedly just as hard to envision him pulling off a worthwhile Hamlet.
Reeves made his big screen debut in sports drama Youngblood the very same year Platoon hit cinemas, and if he’d ended up anchoring the unforgettable war story as its protagonist, then it’s not a stretch of the imagination to suggest that his entire career could have turned out completely differently.
News
Is Nicolas Cage underneath all that fur? The beard hid a legend and was unrecognizable at the movie premiere.
Laurence Fishburne and Nicolas Cage (Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images) Is that Nicolas Cage underneath all that fur? Apparently it was, as the idiosyncratic screen legend attended to the Beverly Hills premiere of his new movie Running With The Devil. Not only…
Weston Cage, Son of Nicolas Cage, Under Police Investigation for Alleged Attack on Mother
Weston is Nicolas’ oldest child and his only with Christina Fulton From L: Nicolas Cage, Weston Cage and Christina Fulton. PHOTO: JOHN SHEARER/WIREIMAGE; GABRIEL OLSEN/FILMMAGIC; ROBIN L MARSHALL/GETTY Weston Coppola Cage is reportedly a suspect in a battery case involving his mother, Christina…
Nicolas Cage, FKA Twigs & Noah Jupe in ‘The Carpenter’s Son’ – Cannes Hot Project
Nicolas Cage, FKA twigs, Noah Jupe, Souheila YacoubGetty Images, Pip Nicolas Cage, FKA twigs, Noah Jupe and Souheila Yacoub are set to star in Egyptian-American director Lotfy Nathan’s The Carpenter’s Son exploring the rarely told story of the childhood of Jesus with a horror take. Paris-based…
Nicolas Cage Takes on Unique Role in Horror Film: Jesus’ Childhood Story in Production
Nicolas Cage Horror Movie Involving Jesus’ Childhood Being Produced US actor Nicolas Cage attends the premiere of “Renfield” in New York City on March 28, 2023. (Photo … [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES A horror movie set amid Jesus’ childhood starring…
Octavia Spencer and Isabela Moner Join Mark Wahlberg’s ‘Instant Family
Octavia Spencer, Isabela Moner, Tig Notaro, Iliza Shlesinger, and Tom Segura have joined Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne in the Paramount comedy “Instant Family.” Wahlberg and Byrne will play a couple who decides to start a family and adopt through the foster-care…
Chef Duran Reveals: What Mark Wahlberg Is Eating to Gain 30lbs in 6 Weeks for ‘Father Stu
Earlier this week, actor Mark Wahlberg caught headlines around the internet after posting an Instagram update on the body transformation he’s undergoing to play a boxer-turned-priest in Father Stu. Instead of the usual, pre-blockbuster shred that most Hollywood types grind through before a feature…
End of content
No more pages to load