For years he lived in exclusive hotels such as LA's Chateau Marmont rather than buying a place of his own. He could be found reading books in isolated cafes or riding his motorcycle at breakneck speed along Sunset Boulevard, all the while staying clear of the hedonistic pursuits that tend to contaminate your average screen idol.
There's an ethereal quality to his body, mind, and soul, and only he knows with any certainty what forces govern his wayward being. Only one thing remains constant about Keanu Reeves - his stubborn refusal to conform.
'I've never had the luxury of feeling very settled or secure,' explains Reeves. 'I've always felt a disconnect with the kind of world that most people accept as a given. I'm more comfortable with being an outsider who gets to wander and observe and slowly piece together all the fragments and try to make sense of things. But then again, sometimes you discover that there's a lot about life that doesn't make sense and you need to accept that and just go on regardless.'
Ever since he banked a cool million for his work on the Matrix trilogy Reeves has gained the kind of industry standing that is normally reserved for actors of the Clooney/Hanks/Pitt fabric. How odd that a self-proclaimed wanderer like Keanu should have vaulted into such elite territory and still maintain his polite disdain for the mechanics of movie stardom.
'I've never understood the process of being a movie star if that's what I am... The work is real, my commitment to acting is real, but the money that goes with it and everything else is totally out of this world. I enjoy the freedom that comes with the money, but I really don't have the kind of acquisitive mentality to live a big life. My only vices are motorcycles and expensive bottles of red wine. I don't have a huge wardrobe of clothes and I don't live in a palatial house. I'm happy just to be able to travel a bit and experience the world and not worry about paying bills.'
Reeves's seeming lock on the curious netherworld he occupies as a film star is confirmed by his appearance in the forthcoming Constantine, a manic new riff on the comic book movie genre that continues to sweep the business.
Based on the DC Comics' Hellblazer series, Constatine stars Reeves as John Constantine, a detective/exorcist condemned to battling his own demons as well as the real thing. After learning that he is dying of lung cancer, he believes that his only hope for avoiding literally being sent to Hell is to help fellow detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) solve her sister's mysterious suicide.
'I love films that speculate on meaning, and I love being able to step into that kind of questioning, troubled outlook on the world,' says Reeves. 'Sure, Constantine is spending a lot of time getting his ass whipped in the film, but there are much deeper metaphors to his mission and to some of the revelations he experiences.'
'I really loved the guy. I loved his anger. I loved his wry sense of humour about the awfulness of the world and what that's turned him into. Constantine's like a warrior in this world of shit, and he's trying to deal with it. He's occupying the space between Heaven and Hell, dealing with angels and demons, and he's aiming at some form of redemption to settle accounts in his own twisted life. He's taking the kind of heavy moral journey we all take except that in his case that journey is absolutely vital to his life and what becomes of it.'
