56 MEN’S FITNESS APRIL 2017

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“I’m not looking for a red carpet to walk, and I’m

not trying to have a celebrity footprint,” he says when

I mention that it’s rare to see his name flashing across

Entertainment Tonight, and it’s even rarer for him to sit

for an extended interview like this one. And while so

many actors in Hollywood are focused on building their

online “brands”, Reeves seems totally fine with letting the

world of social media entirely pass him by. “I can see the

appeal — it’s just not to my taste,” he says.

Before I meet him, I know a few basic facts: He’s

unmarried, with no kids. (“I’m an unsuccessful

representation of the species,” he jokes.) Also, I know that

much of my impression of Reeves is formed by his work,

notably his tendency to play stoic heroes — like the Zen-like

savior, Neo, in the record-shatteringThe Matrixtrilogy —

so I half expect to encounter a quiet, impenetrable monk.

Instead, Reeves is more like a high-energy action-

movie fanboy, rattling off some of the films that 87Eleven

co-founders — veteran stuntmen David Leitch and Chad

Staheleski — have choreographed:The Bourne Legacy,

Fight Club, and, of course,The Matrix, on which Staheleski

served as Reeves’ stunt double. Fifteen years after that

movie’s smash success, he knew those guys aspired

to direct, and Reeves brought them a project he was

developing about a retired assassin who goes on a bloody

revenge spree after a group of thugs off his dog.

Reeves would star, and they would direct.

“Just good clean fun,” he says of the movie, with its

super-stylised violence, insane body count and wry tone.

(“It is funny,” Reeves admits. “But not ha-ha funny.”) It was

an odds-defying hit: Made on a small, $15 million budget,

it grossed $100 million worldwide, cementing Reeves’

status, once again, as one of Hollywood’s most appealing

and bankable action heroes.

IN 2017, IT’S EASY TO FORGET THAT REEVES ISan unlikely

badass. He first hit it big in comedy, in 1989, with the

ridiculousBill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, about two

bodacious, underachieving California teenagers travelling

through time in a phone booth. Not only wasBill & Ted

Reeves’ first (but hardly last) surprise hit, earning a

sequel, but nearly 30 years later people still talk about

a reunion — an effort Reeves supports. “It would be

absolutely fantastic and ridiculous to play those roles

again,” he says. “Bill and Ted in their 50s?! Excellent.

YOU LIKE ACTION MOVIES?” ASKS KEANU REEVES, UNABLE TO CONTAIN HIS EXCITEMENT, AS

HE LEADS ME ON A TOUR OF 87ELEVEN ACTION DESIGN, A GYM, PRODUCTION COMPANY AND

CHOREOGRAPHY STUDIO LOCATED NEAR LOS ANGELES AIRPORT THAT IS ARGUABLY THE WHITE-HOT

CENTRE OF MODERN MOVIE FIGHTING. “IT’S LIKE A TRAINING SCHOOL, A DOJO FOR STUNTS,” HE SAYS,

CLEARLY PUMPED TO BE BACK AT WHAT WAS HIS “SECOND HOME” WHILE HE PREPPED FOR ACTION

MOVIE JOHN WICK (2014) AND THE NEXT INSTALMENT, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2. REEVES’ ENTHUSIASM

IS A LITTLE SURPRISING, AND NOT BECAUSE THE GUY IS 52. (IN HIS MOD BLACK JACKET EMBLAZONED

WITH “ARCH”— THE MOTORCYCLE COMPANY HE CO-FOUNDED — HE DOESN’T LOOK 40.) AND IT ISN’T

BECAUSE I EXPECTED REEVES TO BE A JERK, EITHER. THE TRUTH IS, I HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT,

BECAUSE KEANU REEVES—ASTARFORMORE THAN A QUARTER CENTUY — HAS ACHIEVED SOMETHING

RARE IN TODAY’S CELEBRITY-OBSESSED WORLD: HE’S PRESERVED SOME MYSTERY ABOUT HIMSELF.

“Before a big fight

sequence, I still eat

a steak. It started

onThe Matrix.It’s

totally psychological.”