- Keanu is best known for his portrayals of a spaced-out metalhead in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (which went on to become a cult classic) and in two action films that were both financial and critical successes: the "ticking time bomb" thriller Speed and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix.
- Keanu has worked under many major directors, such as with Stephen Frears (in the 1988 period drama Dangerous Liaisons); Gus Van Sant (in the gritty 1991 independent film My Own Private Idaho (also written by Van Sant).
- Keanu's role as a rookie FBI agent in the 1991 surf drama Point Break (opposite Patrick Swayze) was praised by The New York Times critic Janet Maslin, who stated that Keanu "...displays considerable discipline and range.".
- In addition to his film roles, Keanu has also performed in theater.
- Keanu's performance in the title role in a Manitoba Theatre Centre production of Hamlet was praised by Roger Lewis, the Sunday Times, who called Keanu "...one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he * is* Hamlet."
- In an ET online survey in 2006, Keanu was included in the "Top Ten of America's Favorite Stars".
- Keanu is a Lebanese-born Canadian-American, Keanu's mother was working in Beirut when she met his father.
- Keanu's name is translated as Hawaiian cool breeze over the mountains.
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