Keanu Reeves's Unique History With Money
Unlike many Hollywood Stars, he spends his money on more important things.
Photo - Courtesy of GQ In a 2003 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Keanu Reeves told the interviewer that “Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I’ve already made for the next few centuries.” Some may be under the impression that his statement was merely part of a finely tuned-PR campaign. Most would consider that a reasonable assumption considering the staggering amount of money Keanu has been paid for his acting services. But the truth is, Keanu truly doesn’t have an atom in his body that cares or thinks about money, at least in the way the rest of us do. And this is not a recent development. Instead, it’s a career-long reputation that Reeves has earned, and with good reason.
One example of this came in 1995, when Keanu had already gained notoriety for his role in ‘Speed’ a year prior, and was offered a role opposite Robert De Niro in Michael Mann’s action thriller ‘Heat’. Keanu declined the role. Not for what most actors decline a role over such as pay, director, or the character. Keanu declined so he could carry out his role in a production of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg, Canada. Keanu’s role in ‘Heat’ would end up going to Val Kilmer.
Photo - Courtesy of IGNSo he turns down one blockbuster movie for a tiny theatre production of “Hamlet”, what are we supposed to look at him as a saint now? Consider this, the very next year after turning down ‘Heat’, Keanu declined an $11 million offer for a sequel to ‘Speed’. At the time he was 32 years old, and the $11 million payday would be equivalent to $21 million today (accounting for inflation).
So why would a 30-year-old with the opposite of “f-you” money turn down a life-changing sum? Keanu was cautious about being type-cast early in his career, and he was hoping to land a role opposite Al Pacino in “The Devil’s Advocate.”
Luck was on Keanu’s side, and he ended up landing the ‘The Devil’s Advocate’ role. However, it didn’t come without its own sacrifices. During pre-production, Keanu agreed to take a pay cut by several million dollars so the production could afford Al Pacino. It’s not the last time Keanu will pull this maneuver to land a star opposite him in a movie. He did it again in pre-production for the 2000 movie ‘The Replacements’ so they could afford Gene Hackman.
While these early career examples lend a hand in the case of Keanu’s history of hating money, none are as stark as what he did with his ‘Matrix’ franchise earnings. Specifically, the massive sum he earned from lucrative backend and royalty deals on the second and third installments.
Photo -‘ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE'(2019) Netflix The Matrix Money
Keanu earned $10 million in upfront salary for his role in the 1st ‘Matrix’ movie. Similar to many big stars of the day, his contract incorporated certain back-end royalties (better known as points). Combined, Keanu ended up earning around $35 million for the first ‘Matrix’.
When the time came for negotiating his contract for the 2nd and 3rd ‘Matrix’ movies, Keanu was in a position to demand certain back-end points. While he did secure himself a nice payout, he also insisted that a significant portion of those back-end points be designated to the movie’s special effects (FX) and costume design teams. Keanu felt strongly that the people behind the scenes creating the effects and costumes were the more important elements to the success of the franchise.
At this point, you’re bound to be wondering how this ended up working out for the FX and costume teams, right? Well… the 2nd and 3rd ‘Matrix’ movies ended up taking home over $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office. In addition, millions more were earned through DVD sales, home rentals, and other revenue streams available to box-office hits. When the money was all counted back at the studio, Keanu ended up forgoing over $75 million in points. Instead, that money was spread out over dozens of Matrix crew members.
In lieu of accepting his Nobel peace prize, Keanu took it one step further and gifted each member of the ‘Matrix’ stunt team a custom-made Harley Davidson motorcycle. But despite his generosity, Keanu still managed to take home an estimated $200 million for his role in the ‘Matrix’ franchise.
Not too bad of an all-around win-win!
Photo - ‘THE MATRIX: RELOADED’ (2003) HBO Max
Giving Away the Matrix Money
On top of his contractual philanthropy, Keanu has given millions of dollars to various charities over the years. Such organizations include PETA, the SickKids Foundation, Stand Up To Cancer, and many more. After his own sister was diagnosed with leukemia, Keanu proceeded to donate millions of his own money to create a private cancer foundation. Since then, his foundation has funded children’s hospitals and cancer research throughout the country. It’s hard to know exactly how much he has given because Keanu never attaches his name to any of his gifts. Instead, he prefers to provide money to organizations in need without taking any credit for himself. It would seem that it’s in his DNA to give money away the Keanu way,
No one would criticize you for still thinking that these donations are simply a famous and rich man trying to evade taxes while increasing his reputation. But take another example when Keanu once spent several hours sitting on a sidewalk and sharing his food with a homeless man in Los Angeles. There was no camera crew filming him for a documentary or a late-night talk show appearance showering the actor with praise. Just simply two men eating lunch together and discussing the normalities of life. We wouldn’t even know about the situation unless a passerby snapped a photo.
One person on Reddit even documented a time when Keanu assisted a ‘Matrix’ crew members family:
“A family friend builds movie sets, doesn’t design, is one of the poor dude that just builds. Anyways he worked on the set for the Matrix and Keanu heard about family trouble he was having and gave him a $20,000 Christmas bonus to help him out. He also was one of the only people on the set that genuinely wanted to know people’s names, would say hello and mean it, and would talk to people as they were his peers and not below him just because they were practically making nothing to build a set. I’ve never heard anyone say Keanu is a douche, seems like the nicest person in Hollywood from a secondhand experience.”
Keanu is one of the few people in Hollywood who is more interesting as a person. His generosity didn’t take an epiphany, disease, or old age to induce. Instead, it seems that as soon as he began earning money is as soon as he began giving it away.
Whether it was hollowing out his own contract (earnings) to ensure higher pay for others, funding the ongoing and expensive fight against the world’s most hated disease, or spending time with the less fortunate just human-to-human, it's clear that Keanu has the most generous spirit in Hollywood.
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