Keanu on his Love for Acting

I love my job. I love acting, more and more all the time, and I'm always looking for good scripts," he says.

– "Keanu on cloud 9", July 1995

Acting is the only thing that keeps me still," he says. "If I'm not acting, I bounce off walls. My teachers thought it was sugar, but they were wrong.

– "Psst – -this snitch is going places in 'River'", May 1987

What is important to me, is to work at my craft, whatever the genre of the film I am working on.

– "Keanu Reeves", November 1996

I like acting in commercial films, I shouldn't say like, I love] it and I love acting in independent films, and hopefully I will continue to do just that. Hopefully my acting will be good enough and hopefully the films will be good too.

– "Keanu's message", January 1997

I want to work in Hollywood," he says. "The experiences I've had have been some of the best in my life, and I want to act. So, if a film is successful and that has other kinds of consequences, then I'm willing to go through that. Sometimes, it's fun. ... My ambition is to hopefully play different types of characters and to do different kinds of films in style and scope. I guess it's just me wanting to act and not wanting to be just one thing.

– "For love of the game", August 2000

I've had some really great fortune this past couple of years. I'm so grateful because I love acting more and more. It would hurt not to be getting offers. And in this job, time off is often imposed on you and that is so frustrating.

– "Back in the game", August 2000

I love paying the bass and I love the camaraderie of the band. But I have no intention of giving up acting for music. Acting is my life's work.

– "He's rich, handsome, loving"¦ and alone", November 2000

As an actor, I've been fortunate enough to continue acting and, through experience in my craft, I've learned a lot.

– "Keanu the $400 million dollar man", October 2003.

It seems Reeves has been through some tough times in life, but when it comes to work, it sure is smooth sailing with projects after projects in the pipeline. After Constantine, there is comedy Thumbsucker, action sci-fi A Scanner Darkly and Spike Lee's thriller, A Night Watchman, to look forward to. When asked how he keeps up with all these time sapping projects, he pauses thoughtfully and replies, "I love acting.

– "Constant Craving", February 2005.

I really love [acting]. it's my craft.

– "Interview: Keanu Reeves for Constantine", February 2005

The expression is great. I've been fortunate to do different kinds of films on different scales, different genres, different roles. Sometimes you don't want to play the hero and that's something I've been trying to do. There's joy in the diversity of roles. It's something I like to do if I can.

– "Playing the hero", February 2005

I love acting, it gives me a great sense of freedom. It's great to put yourself into the part of someone else and tell stories.

– "Goodbye Matrix, Now Keanu is an Alien", December 2008

Acting has never brought me freedom from trauma but it's introduced me to perhaps a trauma that's been contained in expression. It's never brought release. It does give me that moment of freedom from it so I get to live.

Keanu dig it?

Acting is home for me. That is where I live.

Keanu Reeves

Acting is my life. If I'm not working, I'm working on working, developing scripts, trying to produce some films. It's pretty much all I do.

– "Robin Wright and Keanu Reeves expose 'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee'" – 2009

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