Keanu Reeves gets emotional and disusses death on talk show: 'The ones who love us will miss us'
'John Wick' actor Keanu Reeves is known to be a man of a few words. He generally keeps a low profile and isn't seen on many talk shows either, so when he made an appearance on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' all eyes were on him and he didn't disappoint. The star, who has a new movie in the series titled 'John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum', spoke about the film in the first half of the show but then the host asked him, "What do you think happens when we die, Keanu Reeves?”
Reeves, in a now viral clip that has emerged on Twitter, takes a deep breath and says, "I know that the ones who love us will miss us." Colbert, visibly moved by the response, shook his hand looking emotional. It's not every day that a guest leaves Colbert speechless, but Reeves is no ordinary guest.
Twitterati was, as usual in awe of the man. "I teared up watching this. Its one of the rawest emotions I have seen him," one fan said. "This is why I have always felt Keanu Reeves is such a great human being. He stated the one thing about our mortality that is 100% true...I believe this wholeheartedly."
His idea of what happens when we die definitely feels like it sums up from tragedy in his personal life. He lost his best friend, actor River Pheonix at an early age. The two starred in 'My Own Private Idaho', a 1991 indie flick.
His then-partner Jennifer Syme lost their baby, Ava, who was stillborn. This was during the time he was filming 'The Matrix'. Around the same time, his sister was diagnosed with cancer and there were times when filming had to be shut down because he had to be with her.
Reeves addressed his never-ending grief in a 2006 interview. "Grief changes shape, but it never ends," Reeves told Parade. "People have a misconception that you can deal with it and say, 'It's gone, and I'm better.' They're wrong. When the people you love are gone, you're alone."
Reeves has cited the deaths of Ava and Symes as the reason he avoids serious relationships and having children. Soon after, they split up following which she passed away in a car crash. She was only 28 years old at the time of her death on April 2, 2001.
In 'John Wick', Reeves plays an assassin who is forced back into the business when mobsters kill his puppy, the last gift his dead wife left him. Reeves told The Telegraph that Wick's immense grief was what helped him connect to the character. "For me, it was John's grief that made it personal," said Reeves. "It was strong enough to make him want to unearth his past. I thought of it not as revenge but as reclaiming."