ohn Wick’s return has been long awaited. What began as
a low-key, low-expectation, one-off, all-action, retired-
assassin flick spurred into the high lead-count vengeance
surprise hit of 2014, spawning a 2017 sequel. This year, with
the arrival of Parabellum, it morphed into a trilogy, with a
quadralogy, a spin-off TV series and a Shared Universe (with
Atomic Blonde, a 2017 vehicle for Charlize Theron being co-
opted into Wick World) all waiting in the wings...
At the core of all this world-weaving is one man – Keanu
Reeves, an actor who is no stranger to fronting franchises
and a man who has had more than his fair share of real-
life tragedies. Born in Lebanon and raised in Canada, he
claims to be equal parts English, Hawaiian and Chinese, an
intriguing mix that has seen him sustain a Hollywood career
that stretches back some 35 years.
Although gifted with a Hawaiian first name that loosely
translates to “cool wind over the mountain”, life has been
far from a breeze for Reeves, who turns 55 this September.
His English showgirl-turned-costume-designer mother
split from his Asian-American geologist father when he
was just three years old, with Reeves Senior permanently108 igafencu.com