Keanu Reeves proves he's the 'nicest guy in Hollywood' responding to girl's request
There are many contenders for the crown of 'nicest guy in Hollywood', with actors like Tom Hanks and Morgan Freeman often topping opinion polls of well-liked or kind actors thanks to their fan interactions and public persona.
Yet there's one unassuming actor who rarely publicizes his good deeds and doesn't let fame get to his head, renowned for happily signing autographs and even turning up as a surprise guest at a fans wedding in 2022 - Keanu Reeves.
Another tale of his quiet acts of kindness has emerged recently, with the John Wick actor being revealed as the executive producer of a documentary made by a 16-year-old fan of his and even starring in her film.
While Reeves has his pick of Hollywood blockbusters he could feature in, five years ago, it was a request from Bianca Mitchell-Avila that piqued his interest, with the teen asking for his help making a film about the women challenging men in a field where 85 percent of competitors are men.
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The young documentarian, inspired by the efforts of female chess players to unseat the grandmasters of the male-dominated sport, wanted to record her journey across America as she learned life lessons from the game.
But the climax of her idea for a documentary involved her playing against a famous person that people look up to. Naturally, Mitchell-Avila thought of the Matrix star and sent a Hail Mary email to Reeves' agent.
Speaking ahead of the April 16 release of her documentary, Madwomen’s Game, speaking to Variety, the now-21-year-old said: “I was like, ‘You know what would be crazy? If I had an epic battle with John Wick.’”
In her desperate plea to the agent of Hollywood's famously kind leading man, she asked: "I know that he is very busy and may not have time to participate in something so small, but I really wanted to take a chance."
But despite her long odds of success, to her surprise, the next morning she woke up to a response from Reeves. “I was struck by the tone, by the ambition, by the vision of it [in] early days,” the actor told the publication.
Reeves added: “And then Bianca and I Zoomed, and what came across from the digital page was definitely the person that I met.”
Ultimately, her idea of a one-on-one with Reeves (who was on his high school's chess team) was scrapped from the final documentary, but the actor signed his name up to the project to give the young filmmaker the biggest boost possible.
“In this case, my description of [being an] executive producer was being attached to the project, and whatever value other people thought that that could bring to the project and get it made,” Reeves said.
Former competitive child chess player Mitchell-Avila said that the Point Break star had stayed actively involved in the production to ensure it kept its momentum, offering her advice at difficult moments and being 'supportive'.
“You’re in meetings sometimes, and you can tell some people just aren’t listening to you,” she said. “With him, it was the complete opposite. I knew the things that I was saying, he was hearing, and he actually cared about what I was talking about.
"It wasn’t just like, ‘Okay, let me hear you out.’ It was like, ‘What is it that I can help you with?’”
Madwomen's Game debuts at the Miami Film Festival on April 16.
Topics: Keanu Reeves, Film and TV
William Morgan