Facts

Keanu's first name is a Hawaiian word meaning "cool breeze over the mountains".

Keanu was given the intimidating nickname 'The Wall' in high school due to his skills on the ice hockey rink.

A keen musician, Keanu played bass for grunge band Dogstar in the '90s and more recently in a group called Becky.

Strangely, Keanu is friends with fashion presenter Trinny Woodall. The Simpsons used Keanu's character Ted Logan as the basis for dimwitted character Jimbo Jones.

Keanu almost missed out on starring in mega-blockbuster The Matrix. The role was initially offered to Will Smith and Nicolas Cage, who both turned the part down.

In order to get Al Pacino cast in The Devil's Advocate, Keanu deferred his salary allowing producers to stump up the cash for the Scarface star.

Rather than wring every dime he could out of the popular "Matrix" movie series, Reeves signed away his back-end deal for the two sequels to the films' special-effects and costume-design teams - an act of benevolence that cost him many millions.

Before "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" - before even "River's Edge" - Reeves built up his acting resume with a Coca-Cola commercial. Reeves, then 16, played a bicycle racer whose winning spirit is bolstered by the sugary, carbonated beverage. Watch him take the pause that refreshes in the video.

"The Gift" notwithstanding, Reeves is actually pretty choosy about the roles he takes. He turned down the role of Pvt. Chris Taylor in 1986's "Platoon" (a part that eventually went to Charlie Sheen) because he wasn't happy about the movie's violence. He also passed on the role of Racer X in 2008's "Speed Racer," and famously - most would say wisely - declined to participate in "Speed 2: Cruise Control," the sequel to his hit "Speed."