In a recent interview, Keanu Reeves reportedly revealed he’s a “lonely guy.” “I don’t have anyone in my life,” he adds, “but if it does occur, I would respect and love the other person. Hopefully it’ll happen for me.”
The story quickly went viral because, duh. Keanu Reeves, a national and cinematic treasure, is lonely? If that’s true I volunteer as tribute to keep him company. I’d cook Alison Roman’s spicy chickpea stew while we heart-to-heart about, like, where our souls go when we die. We’d have a really nice time, I think.
Others on social media feel the same way:
It’s heartbreaking to think Reeves is lonely because, like Tom Hanks and Chris Evans, he’s on a very short list of universally beloved men. There are multiple articles with the headline “Proof That Keanu Reeves Is the Nicest Guy in Hollywood” which is enough proof for me that he’s the nicest guy in Hollywood. His work is so iconic that a hip NYC theater is hosting a retrospective on his films this summer; in April, Glasgow, Scotland threw a KeanuCon festival. Even Sandy Bullock, literally Miss Congeniality, has a crush on him.
The good news: His rep told Huffington Post the interview was “fabricated.” Thank God Reeves is doing just fine, but the moment did lead to a discussion on social media—and among the Glamour team—about his allure. When I dropped the article into Slack, a conversation about our favorite things about Reeves quickly took off.
Khaliha Hawkins pointed to a lesser-known Reeves film, 1995’s A Walk in the Clouds, as proof of his versatility as an actor. “Keanu is known for his action roles, but he’s always been a rom-com star in my mind,” she explained. “A Walk in the Clouds is full of drama and rom-com tropes, so, this movie has it all.”
Samantha Leach said she keeps seeing nostalgic photos of Reeves in her Instagram feed, to her delight. “If you’re deep down the rabbit hole of ’90s nostalgia Instagram like I am, photos of Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix around the time of My Own Private Idaho pop up a lot,” she told me. “The smolder that guy gives off as a ’90s indie star is unreal, like, c’mon. More important, whenever he’s pictured with River Phoenix he looks so protective of him. River was struggling with addiction by that point and with every pose Keanu looks like he’s trying to convey, “Let me save you, River” through his eyes. It’s how much he cares that truly makes him sexy.”
For Kim Fusaro, the love for Reeves started early and hasn’t wavered. “I saw Keanu in Point Break in the theater because my friend’s mom escorted us, two pre-teens, to the counter and cleared us for tickets. It was my first in-the-theater rated R movie,” she said. “A decade later I went with the same friend to see Keanu’s band, Dogstar, at a shitty Providence, R.I., bar, another venue that we definitely weren’t old enough to be in. He was worth bending the rules and breaking the law for.”
I didn’t know Reeves has a band, but that only adds to my love for him. That surprising side of Reeves is what Christopher Rosa likes, too. “He’s a great actor—and so, so hot—but my love for him is rooted in something else entirely: conspiracy theories,” Rosa said. “There are so many wild rumors about Reeves on the Internet, and they’re either all true or all complete B.S. Like this one about how he paid for a stranger’s kidney transplant. Or when everyone was convinced he saved dozens of cats from euthanasia. And there’s the old folklore that he drives a Honda and lives in a normal apartment despite having millions. We do know he takes the subway, so perhaps that last one is true. Regardless, the Internet is out here posting theories about him like he’s a Game of Thrones character, and I’m here for it.”
