Keanu Reeves Reacts To Matthew Perry’s Morbid Memoir Digs On His Life
Keanu Reeves attends a special screening of Warner Bros. "DC League of Super Pets" at AMC The Grove 14 on July 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Actor Matthew Perry arrives at the premiere of "Ride" at ArcLight Hollywood on April 28, 2015 in Hollywood, California.
Keanu Reeves is addressing Matthew Perry's strange hatred of him in his new memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. The Friends alum wrote about his disdain for Reeves’ life as he was struck with tragedy.
“Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?” Perry wrote in the memoir. His first movie, 1988’s A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, Perry acted alongside Reeves’ longtime best friend River Phoenix. In the film, Perry plays Phoenix’s best friend and they became close while filming in Chicago. River tragically overdosed at age 23 in 1993.
Perry, 53, writes, “River was a beautiful man inside and out and too beautiful for this world, it turned out. It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down.” Elsewhere in the book, Perry gets another dig in at Reeves following Chris Farley’s death at age 33 in 1997. Perry co-starred with Farley on the 1998 comedy Almost Heroes. At this point, Perry was battling addiction at the height of his Friends fame. Once again, Perry didn’t think it was fair that Reeves was still alive, writing, “I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us.”
Following backlash of the strange morbid comments, Perry issued a statement to People last month, saying, “I’m actually a big fan of Keanu. I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”
“Keanu thought the comments came out of left field,” a source told Us Weekly. “It’s kind of backfired on Matthew anyway, which is why he had to apologize.”
Keanu Reeves' 10 Best Films
Keanu Reeves is a well-respected actor and a beloved pop culture icon. Raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in Youngblood (1986) starring Rob Lowe. Shortly after production wrapped in Canada, Reeves packed his bags and headed for Hollywood. Reeves popped up on critics’ radar with his performance in the dark adolescent drama, River’s Edge (1986), and landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated Dangerous Liaisons (1988) with a star-studded cast that included Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman.
His first popular success was the role of Ted “Theodore” Logan in the wacky time-traveling cult classic, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989). Now a bonafide box-office star, Keanu would star in My Own Private Idaho, Dracula, Much Ado About Nothing, Speed, The Devil’s Advocate, The Matrix trilogy, Constantine and A Scanner Darkly. Reeves wasn’t only attached to live action roles. He also took a shot at voice acting in 2003’s The Animatrix, 2019’s Toy Story 4 and video game Cyberpunk 2077.
See our top 10 list of Keanu Reeves’ best work as an actor below:
Laila Abuelhawa is the Top 40 and Hip-Hop pop culture writer for Beasley Media Group. Being with the company for over three years, Laila's fierce and fabulous red-carpet rankings have earned her a feature on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert!' Her favorite stories are those surrounding the latest in celebrity fashion, television and film rankings, and how the world reacts to major celebrity news. With a background in journalism, Laila's stories ensure accuracy and offer background information on stars that you wouldn't have otherwise known. She prides herself in covering stories that inform the public about what is currently happening and what is to come in the ever-changing, ever-evolving media landscape.
