Keanu Reeves Reveals the Only Two Stars He Ever Asked For Autographs

Keanu Reeves just returned as Neo for the first time in nearly 20 years in The Matrix Resurrections, which hit theaters and HBO Max last month. The movie has been met with mixed reviews and currently has a 63% critics score after 307 reviews and a 63% audience score after 2,500+ reviews. ComicBook.com gave the movie a 4 out of 5 and called it “a worthy sequel fueled by nostalgia and romance.” In honor of the new movie, Reeves has been doing a lot of press, and he revealed a fun fact during a recent appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Throughout his long acting career, Reeves has only ever asked two stars for an autograph, the Velvet Underground’s Lou Reed as well as his Bill & Ted co-star, George Carlin.

“He was cool about it,” Reeves said of Reed when he revealed the autograph was actually for a friend. “It was a little piece of paper, and it was blue ink. And it just said ‘Lou Reed.’” Colbert joked, “It would have been really disappointing if it didn’t say ‘Lou Reed.’” Reeves replied, “I know … But it could have said ‘all my best’ or … “

As for Carlin’s autograph, that one was for Reeves himself, and it was exactly what you’d expect from the late, great comedian. “He wrote … I think it was, ‘Dear Keanu, F*ck you!’” He added, “I always thought he just wrote that for me … Then I met someone else who said that he wrote the same thing to them! … Anyway, beautiful.”

Before the pandemic, both The Matrix Resurrections and John Wick: Chapter 4 were set to hit theatres on the same day in May. However, The Matrix Resurrections was delayed to last month, and the new John Wick has been rescheduled to this year. Interestingly, John Wick director Chad Stahelski actually had a perfect cameo in The Matrix Resurrections. In the film, Trinity’s (Carrie-Anne Moss) husband Chad is played by Stahelski, who is not only known for directing Reeves in the John Wick movies but also served as Reeves’ stunt double in the original The Matrix.  

It was also revealed recently that Reeves donated 70% of his original Matrix salary to cancer research. According to Lad Bible (via New York Post), Reeves donated around $31.5 million out of his $45 million to leukemia research.

The Matrix Resurrections is still streaming on HBO Max. John Wick: Chapter 4 is currently scheduled to hit theatres on May 27, 2022.