On Keanu's Film Choices
As a result or these eclectic [film] choices Keanu had arrived with style, suggesting a populist sensibility but with an eye for offbeat and cultish material.
Reeves has been a versatile risk-taker from the start, notably in the dark adolescent drama River's Edge and as a gay hustler shocker in My Own Private Idaho, and two decades and 40 films on, he continues to confound expectations with eclectic choices.
– And Now For Something Different
The thing with Keanu is an actor is 50% choice, 50% talent, and Keanu's choices are unreal, and his talent is getting there.
– Shia LaBeouf, Interview: Shia LaBeouf
Reeves has been the subject of much gossip recently, that people tend to forget how devoted he is to his craft. Ask him about his transformation from a goofy kid in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" to a graduate of the Kenneth Branagh, Bernardo Bertolucci and Francis Ford Coppola schools of filmmaking, and the actor responds that he hasn't really changed all that much. "People who saw 'Bill and Ted' probably didn't see 'Permanent Record,'" he says of his 1988 teen suicide film. "People have different images of me, depending on which of my films they've seen. But I always took acting seriously. To me, there's nothing else." ... Although he was offered millions to do it, he's turned down "Speed 2" "because I didn't make it to do another one." He has consistently opted for quality projects without paying attention to such favorite Hollywood preoccupations as "career planning." It's all about the work for Keanu."