Number 111- Keanu Reeves Biography - 2.3.2024
Photo credit to Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/keanu_reeves
Hello, and welcome to the Disabled Peoples Project, which showcases biographies of people with disabilities doing great things in life. Each episode or Number is a different biography lasting less than 3 minutes. See my project on other platforms on www.linktr.ee/disabledpeople or my wider research project on www.linktr.ee/disabledphdstudent
Today's Biography is Keanu Reeves
Keanu is a Hollywood actor who has appeared in many films from 1984 to the present day. Such examples are Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Point Break (1994), Speed (1994), Cyberpunk (1995), The Matrix Trilogies in the 2000s and the Joe Wicks sequels from 2014. Keanu was born in Beirut in 1964. Keanu is of Hawaiian, Chinese, English, Irish and Portuguese descent- His mother originated from Essex, UK, and his father is from Hawaii. Keanu moved around a lot as a child. His father left, and his mother eventually moved to Toronto, Canada. Keanu reports having many stepfathers and a troublesome time growing up, including at school, where he was expelled. Keanu found refuge in acting and ice hockey. Keanu eventually moved to an alternative school, which allowed him to pursue professional acting before officially dropping out of school at 17 and moving to Los Angeles.
South China Morning Magazine reported on ’13 reasons why Keanu will be the nicest guy in Hollywood’ in 2022. The article, amongst many online, highlights the amount of kindness and philanthropy work Keanu does without wanting recognition. This ranges from sitting with a homeless guy, giving up his seat on the Subway to a pregnant lady, to anonymously donating significant money to a Leukaemia charity and hospital causes, which is a condition his sister also suffered from. Most of all, such articles show how Keanu can break down barriers in intercultural relations when political barriers across some nations can be difficult.
Keanu said he had trouble at school due to his dyslexia. He said he was lucky that he found a creative industry in acting to home on, saw what he wanted to do, and went for it. The Things magazine explored his problem with reading, and asked the question did dyslexia cause him to have issues with reading scripts for his films. However, in one of my previous biographies on Richard Branson, Branson states that’ Dyslexia is a superpower.’ Also, as a number of my other biographies show, there are a significant amount of people with dyslexia within acting and the entertainment industry. So, maybe dyslexia can help someone reach their full potential in a particular sector if given the right opportunities like Keanu. Keanu seems to recognise all of this, and his past struggles have helped him become ‘the nicest guy in Hollywood’ as The South China Magazine put it.
Examples from the Disabled Peoples Project so far of people with dyslexia:
18 Stephen Graham British Actor 24.4.2023 Repeated on DAP (9)
29 Richard Branson Business author 6.6.2023
59 Robin Williams (1951-2014) actor Repeated on DAP (26)Parkinson’s, dementia?, ADHD? Dyslexia, Bi-Polar
60 Keira KnightleyActress 3.7.2023 Repeated on DAP (27) Dyslexia, PTSD
65 Jay Blades Furniture restore TV, Documentaries 11.7.23 Dyslexia
71 Adam Frost TV Garden Designer 17.7.2023
90 Tom Cruise Actor 25.7.2023 Repeated on DAP (32)
96 Joe Swash Actor, TV Presenter 9.9.2023 Repeated on DAP (37)
As discussed in the previous biographies above, dyslexia is a ‘grey’ area within disability. Some, like Stephen Graham, do not consider it a disability, but others do. Personal autonomy is essential. But what is equally important is that it is protected under UK disability legislation, the Equality Act, if people feel it relevant to consider dyslexia as a disability and receive support to reach their potential.
Photo credit to Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/keanu_reeves
Guardian article about Keanu: https://www.theguardian.com/.../keanu-reeves-grief-loss...
South China Magazine article about Keanu:
https://www.scmp.com/.../13-reasons-why-keanu-reeves...
The Things magazine article about Keanu’s dyslexia: https://www.thethings.com/keanu-reeves-dyslexia-filming.../
LD Resources Famous People with Dyslexia Keanu Reeves: https://www.ldrfa.org/famous-dyslexics-keanu-reeves.../
Equality Act 2010: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents
Other versions of this biography, including video and audio, can be found on www.linktr.ee/disabledpeople
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This biography is repeated on sister project Disabled Actors Project DAP Number 42 at www.linktr.ee/disabledactorsproject . Sorry everyone I forgot to add captions on this video. It's been a couple of months since I have completed a biography for many reasons, so I am a bit rusty! I will re-do it at some point, but in the meantime, if you want the written version, check out the Facebook page; thanks.