Keanu Reeves, AKA Hollywood’s resident Nice Guy, has seemingly built a reputation on his relentlessly kind nature, whether that’s taking his mum to the Oscars, gifting his John Wick 4 stunt team Rolex watches, or auctioning a one-on-one Zoom call for charity. Now, Reeves is donating 70 per cent of his earnings from the original 1999 The Matrix to cancer research – that’s approximately $31.5 million.
According to The New York Post, Reeves made a total of $45 million USD for the blockbuster, but has decided to give away 70 per cent of his earnings to Cancer Research.
At the time of filming, the actor’s younger sister was battling the disease. Even after her recovery, however, Reeves has continued his philanthropic work, establishing a private fund back in the early 2000s for cancer research.
The fourth addition of The Matrix franchise came out last month, yet failed to perform at the box office. Nevertheless, promotion of the film has unearthed some crucial Keanu pop facts, including one podcast interview where the actor revealed that he once dressed up as Dolly Parton’s iconic 1978 Playboy cover as a teen.
Speaking on Red Table Talk, Reeves told host Jada Pinkett Smith: “My mother was a costume designer and she made some costumes for Dolly Parton and she once did the cover of Playboy,” he said, referring to her work on Dolly’s black and pink sequinned ensemble – originally designed by Zelda Wynn Valdes, the first Black designer to open a shop on New York’s Broadway Street.”
“Somehow I guess (Dolly) didn’t take that home, so we had it, and it was Halloween,” he continued. “So I put on the ears, then the bustier, I wore sneakers with fishnet stockings and a bowtie. I had some pretty long hair… I was Dolly Parton as the Playboy bunny.”
Read our interview with The Matrix Resurrections’ costume designer, Lindsay Pugh, here.