10 Little Known Facts About Keanu Reeves

#1: He is named after his uncle Henry Keanu Reeves.

"Keanu" is a derivation of Reeves' great-great-uncle Keaweaheulu, whose name means "the soft breeze raising" in Hawaiian.

#2: He once had a job sharpening ice skates.

#3: In November 1999, the baby girl he was expecting with girlfriend Jennifer Syme was stillborn, just a few weeks shy of the actual delivery date.

They had planned to name her Ava Archer Syme-Reeves.

#4: His estranged girlfriend, Jennifer Syme was killed when her Jeep Cherokee careered onto the wrong side of a Los Angeles road near Highway 101 and smashed into three parked cars.

#5: He took a 90% pay cut on his salary on The Replacements so Gene Hackman could be cast.

Previously, he had deferred $2 million of his salary so that Al Pacino could be cast in The Devil's Advocate.

#6: He learned over 200 martial arts moves for The Matrix Reloaded.

#7: He was originally offered the role of Pvt. Chris Taylor in ‘Platoon’.

Keanu turned it down and the role went to Charlie Sheen.

#8: He was originally cast as Chris Shiherlis in ‘Heat’ but later backed out of the project, and the part went to Val Kilmer.

#9: His best friend was actor River Phoenix.

#10: Some of his favorite films include ‘Taxi Driver’, ‘Apocalypse Now’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’, and ‘Stroszek.’