Keanu Reeves has been unofficially titled Hollywood’s kindest and most well-mannered actor. He is one of the biggest names in the industry. The release of the latest edition of the John Wick franchise, John Wick: Chapter 4, was a massive success, with a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. He has worked on massive projects like The Matrix, the John Wick franchise, and Destination Wedding to name a few, and also has upcoming movies which are predicted to be blockbuster hits like Ballerina, Constantine 2, and John Wick 5.
With such heights of success, it is quite interesting to know that Reeves did not have a very fortunate starting out in his life. The actor struggled quite a bit in his early years and even overcame a learning disorder.
Early Life and Childhood of Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves’s childhood was quite difficult. He was born in Lebanon to his English mother and Hawaiian father who met in Beirut. When the actor was three years old, his father abandoned him and the family started to move around quite a bit. After living in Sydney and New York, the family settled in Toronto where Reeves spent the majority of his childhood.
“Drugs are truly evil. My dad dealt in death, and he deserves to rot in jail until his sentence is over so nobody can die from the drugs he sells.” Reeves talking about his father with uncharacterist anger.
The last time Reeves saw his father, he was 13. After this, his father served time incarcerated for drug possession. Though Reeves does not discuss his father publically anymore, he has previously stated that his relationship with him has a hand in many ways
Keanu Reeves’s struggle with Dyslexia
When Keanu Reeves was a child, he was diagnosed with a learning disorder. Dyslexia is a learning disorder that affects a person’s ability to read, write, and learn. This diagnosis naturally affected his school life and caused him to struggle quite a lot with his academic work and life.
“Because I had trouble reading, I wasn’t a good student,” Reeves once said. “I was just a little too rambunctious and shot my mouth off once too often. I was not generally the most well-oiled machine in the school.”
He was ultimately expelled from school due to this behavior. Despite this, he was very interested in stories and loved art. He was passionate about Shakespeare and loved reading. This interest of his ultimately got him interested in acting. He started taking acting lessons and took part in plays, which led him to who he is today.
Source: CheatSheet
