Keanu: childhood, youth and the moments of glory. Book #1

He played mostly someone like himself. (One of the first series on local television, where he got the role, was called «Hangin «In» (Tenacity, went on TV from 1981 – 1987) was just about the everyday life of the center for free social and medical assistance for working with difficult teenagers and informal youth.)

It is also surprising that, having dropped out of school, he seriously engaged in self-education – that is, reading books, and turned into a truly drunken reader. «I’m like one of those people who dropped out of high school and has a complex. So I’m …what’s the word? Autodidactic. Yes, I’m reading five books that I don’t completely understand and I can’t speak about, but I’ve read them.11» And he really read everything (from Dostoevsky, because generally speaking it is somehow embarrassing not to read it) to physicist Stephen Hawking («one heavy dude»12).

He attended evening theater courses at the theater of improvisations The Second City. (51 Mercer St.) «I kinda had a potpourri. «I went to night classes at a place called the Homemade Theatre. You’d walk up these rickety stairs, you’d go into this room and you’d lie on the ground. Then you’d breathe and start to place the sun on your tongue or the sun on your arm. Then you’d sit in a chair and you’d have a teacup. You’d feel the cup and you’d take a sip out of the hot liquid and you’d feel it… Fucking seventeen doing shit like that!13» and acted everywhere he got invited. Most often – for free or almost free. The first role (if you could call it that) that brought him some money was the role in Coca-Cola’s television commercials. He also advertised cornflakes, oh yes!

He dreamed of starting to earn enough by acting to give up numerous part time jobs and do only what he loved. It turned out, however, not very, and it is not known how it would all end (perhaps before it had time to start), but here the Canadian government came to the rescue of Keanu.

No, no one discerned a future star in him and did not allocate a grant. It’s just that the government somewhere in the late seventies began to provide tax benefits to Hollywood filmmakers, provided that they would be filming in Canada and using local staff in the filming. For media magnates, this did not become a problem – in the end, stars like Donald Sutherland and Christopher Plummer were citizens of Canada, and Toronto looked no worse than New York or Chicago.

So the Canadian film business was quite lively, and Keanu got his first real role on television. (The TV show «Hangin’ In»). It consisted of just one phrase ««Hey, lady! Where’s the shower?14».

Then he went to an audition to participate in another television movie – something like a police drama from the life of the Miami police called «Night Scramble» and again got the role! In the credits, he was listed as «Cutthroat Number One,» but only because he was taller than his friend who played Cutthroat Number Two. So the beginning was promising.

In 1984, John Mackenzie filmed his «Act of Retribution» in Toronto.

This television film talks about genuine events that happened in the United States seventeen years ago. It tells about the struggle of union activist Jock Jablonski with the chairman of the UMWA union. (United Union of Miners) by Tony Boyle. The classic plot is that a noble hero fights against a corrupt trade unionist, for which he pays his own life. The plot is a blast at the mine, 80 miners remained under the rubble, and the union leader assures that all the safety requirements of the mine owners were complied with, and what happened was just an accident, a fateful combination of circumstances. Jock Jablonski strongly disagrees with this, moreover, he becomes Boyle’s rival in the election of the chairman of the union. Boyle doesn’t just juggle the election results – he physically eliminates Jablonski with the hands of his henchmen. The murder made a lot of noise – a federal investigation began. A year before filming began, Tony Boyle died in prison, where he was serving a life sentence… and the story was just a story that could be told and analyzed. It is curious that the performer of the role of Jablonski – Charles Bronson, began his labor biography in the mine.

To fill the quota, Mackenzie hired some of the young Canadian actors to play episodic roles as street boys in New York. Nineteen-year-old Keanu received one of these roles – and here he had a name – Buddy Martin. This was no longer a shame to write on the track record – (played in the same film with Charles Bronson himself! – which Keanu himself was very proud of: – I was the second guy (on film) ever to kill Charles Bronson!»15) and an important step on ways to make acting your primary profession.

Virgo have high standards and are very self-sufficient, therefore they prefer to remain single rather than be in a relationship that does not satisfy. Virgo has no problem being alone for a long time. They relate better to their achievements, knowing that they were successful on their own.

(TOP 10 REASONS WHY VIRGO IS THE BEST ZODIAC SIGN; JANUARY 10, 2017 ASTROLOGY & LIFE)

The television film «The Brotherhood of Justice» («The Brotherhood of Justice», sometimes «The Brotherhood of Justice», which will be shown in 1986) was shot in Toronto. Here, Keanu already received one of the main roles – one of the «brothers» – Derek. (The second main role, Victor, will be played by Kiefer Sutherland, the son of Toronto-born actor Donald Sutherland. Young Billy Zane, the future Cal Hockley in Titanic, and the beautiful Lori Laughlin, will later play along with Keanu in the movie «The Night Before – Last night»). This was again one of the films about difficult teens, which Keanu would later play for a long time. The film is about how the school administration is trying to maintain discipline by the students themselves. Not all, of course. Only the elite, members of the Brotherhood of Justice organization, are entrusted with protecting the rule of law. It would seem that everything has been thought out – the pride of the school, the informal leader, the son of rich and respected parents, Derek will lead the organization, and its friends and members of the administration will be his friends. But alas – the situation is quickly getting out of control and the fight against law enforcement leads to even greater rampant crime … «Brotherhood» is an even more powerful hotbed of rampant violence. Derek wants to stop this, but alas, he catches himself too late. The film turned out very good, although Keanu was far from enthusiastic about himself in this role. «I was just bad in it. I didn’t mean to be. I just was.16»

Virgo, as you know, are perfectionists, they never agree to anything less than perfection. It can be either strength or weakness. On the positive side, this perfectionist attitude forces the Devs to set high standards for themselves, and they are good at improving things, building order out of chaos. They value sophistication and their attention to detail is amazing.

(TOP 10 REASONS WHY VIRGO IS THE BEST ZODIAC SIGN; JANUARY 10, 2017 ASTROLOGY & LIFE)

Another Keanu film of the time is Young Again. Hollywood director Steven Stern spotted him at one of the auditions – and told Disney’s executive director in charge of television films that he wanted to recommend this guy to them. Stern convinced Disney leaders Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg to look at Keanu. «OK,» said Katsenberg to Stern, «but if we don’t like him in a few days, we will replace him.» They liked him, but… this film you will not find in any of the most complete list of Keanu’s films. However, the director introduced the budding actor to Gottlieb Hill from ICM. (Subsequently, he will assist Keanu in obtaining the green card).

1986 was marked by the release of the first «real» film to Keanu on the cinema screens – «Flying» (Flight). In the center of the plot, the truth is not at all the hero of Keanu, Tommy, but a girl named Robin, played by Olivia d’Abo. Honestly, it makes sense to watch this film if you are a big fan of gymnastics, although the plot is certainly there too. Well, just look at Keanu, because in this role he is handsome – and nothing more.

Therefore, we turn better to the next film Keanu, which in his career meant much more.

* * *

So – «Youngblood»…

Keanu himself will later say: «It’s an awful movie17», but, after all, it was the first full-scale Hollywood project in which he took part. Unfortunately, when translated into Russian, the pun used in the title – Youngblood – literally – «Young Blood» meaning is lost, which is consistent with the idea of the film, but this is also the name of the protagonist. The film is about a guy named Dean Youngblood and his dream to play hockey in a good team.

It is only natural that director Peter Markle chose Canada to shoot the sports drama about hockey. Here are just the leading actors he brought with him from Hollywood – it was Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze. Keanu Reeves got an episodic role as the goalkeeper of the hockey team and was not at all for some outstanding acting abilities – at the casting he had to just – just play hockey well! Truly – you do not know where you will find, where you will lose… He played hockey well. And the role was given to him. But what he didn’t have was a French-Canadian accent with which (it’s not very clear why) his hero had to speak. Keanu solved the issue simply: «I got into my car and drove to a small town near Montreal and hung out there for a couple of weeks.»18 With similar meticulousness to his roles he will carry on.

Most Virgo are extremely organized, and they are excellent planners. They don’t like things in a mess; they just bloom in a neat setting. Organizing a picnic or evening meeting in high school? Leave it to Virgo, and everything will be considered in her.

(TOP 10 REASONS WHY VIRGO IS THE BEST ZODIAC SIGN; JANUARY 10, 2017 ASTROLOGY & LIFE)

The film was conceived as a «finest hour» for Rob Lowe, and yes – he became like that for him. Although he did not know how to play hockey at all – from the word at all. In all the episodes on the ice he is replaced by an understudy. (In contrast, by the way, from Patrick Swayze). But Rob did everything he could – he looked beautiful, pretended to work up a sweat and wandered through the locker room very spectacularly half-naked. I do not want to offend anyone – well, the film is like that.

The plot is quite predictable – a newcomer to the team, the team loses, but after an accident with the team captain, the newcomer has a great chance to beat the sworn enemies, oh yes, but also to conquer the girl of your dreams. Everything is beautiful, everyone is dancing. Yeah.

I mean, they play hockey, of course.

But this is a movie. In life, nothing similar happened. To the newcomer – what Keanu was like in this situation – there was no chance. You will have to watch this masterpiece very carefully so as not to miss its appearance on the screen, and God forbid you to blink! (Do not be lazy – look up to the credits – his name is there on the eleventh place, it seems, on the list. In this film, he was just one of many non-professional actors – the guys from junior hockey teams starred in the role of hockey players).

In an interview, when it came directly to Rob Lowe, Keanu Reeves spoke cautiously, only noted that the handsome tried to test his charm on two Reeves’ girlfriends. «But eventually they saw through him19». Yes, it is true – because jealousy is not for two nameless girlfriends – but to the fact that this is his role – Keanu, in all respects it is simple, but the star here is Rob, and with what, tell me, why?

…they, by the way, are the same age – Keanu Reeves and Rob Lowe – only one was born in September, and the other in March. But, if for Keanu in those years, a fairly decent acting career did not promise exactly anything – Rob was already confidently moving towards success. (Keanu never graduated from any of the four schools where he studied, and Rob lived in Los Angeles and attended Santa Monica High School. His friends Emilio Esteves, Charlie Sheen, brothers Sean and Chris Penna also studied there, Robert Downey Jr… Familiar names, right?)

In 1988, Rob went to Georgia to participate in the election campaign of Michael Dukakis, the US Democratic candidate. (George W. Bush the Elder came forward from the Republicans, who, in the end, won the election). Life smiled at Rob in all thirty-two teeth – he dreamed about the main role in the film by Martin Scorsese, twisted novels with Melissa Gilbert, Nastassja Kinski and Princess Stefania, was seriously interested in politics – but…

…it is always there – it is the notorious «but».

…after a party hosted by CNN founder Ted Turner, Rob returned to the hotel with two young girls he met in a nightclub. The result was an intimate video, which very quickly flew from Atlanta throughout the country. Gas was poured on fire by the fact that one of Rob’s girlfriends turned out to be a minor that night (she was only 16). The other, however, has already turned 22, but this has not corrected the matter. Rob denied – he could not have imagined that the girl was a minor – since he met her at a nightclub! But the case took a serious turn – the girl’s mother filed a civil suit in court, accusing Rob Lowe of using his celebrity status to encourage her daughter to take part in the filming of the pornographic tape. The case was taken into consideration by the Atlanta district attorney and journalists began to discuss whether this scandal meant the death of Low’s career as a film actor and agreed that most likely not… and Rob’s phone was silent. He was phoned only by former filming partner Jodie Foster and producer Don Simpson. And that’s all.

As a result, Rob was sentenced to twenty hours of correctional labor and payment of monetary compensation. No criminal charges were brought against him… but, of course, he was no longer considered a candidate for serious roles – for those that he dreamed of…

No, in the end everything was formed. Rob survived and continued his film career, having undergone treatment for alcohol and drug addiction in 1990, in which his then girlfriend Cheryl Birkoff helped him a lot. Now everything looks completely idyllic – Rob and Cheryl are married, they have two adult sons… and Rob also wrote an autobiographical book – Stories I Only Tell My Friends. … does he regret anything?

Who knows …?

But all this will come later – and the one who foresees everything is miserable. In the meantime, Rob is on the rise – and Keanu is not even at the first step of his career – but still, this film gave him a lot – experience in the «real» Hollywood film and the opportunity to buy new bass strings, because for this film he I have already received quite a decent fee – as much as three thousand dollars.

A clear understanding that he no longer shines in Toronto came down to his mind. «I wanted to be in the Shaw or Stratford Shakespeare festivals, but they turned me down twice,» he recalls. «I didn’t fit. I was too young and unruly by their standards. So I packed up my Volvo and headed for Hollywood in search of steak-and-potatoes roles20.»

Virgo have high standards and are very self-sufficient, therefore they prefer to remain alone and not be in a relationship that does not satisfy them. There is no problem for Virgo to be alone for a long time. They relate better to their achievements, knowing that they were successful on their own.

(TOP 10 REASONS WHY VIRGO IS THE BEST ZODIAC SIGN; JANUARY 10, 2017 ASTROLOGY & LIFE)

No, partly everything turned out pretty well – he was engaged in his favorite business, which finally began to earn money, bought a car, the only advantage of which was that it drove (in Russia, such ratchets are called a «bucket of nuts», how he managed to get to Los Angeles on it – it’s unbelievable). He got a girlfriend called Peggy (or Polly?). But, in the future, he had endless castings for the roles of «tall guy in a T-shirt», «the second friend of the protagonist» … and so on

«I was a little too untrained, rambunctious and crazy for that town»21

Eventualy, Keanu went to Hollywood (where else could he go?) There was no world for me in Toronto as an actor. Because of my family, I had an opportunity for a green card (a work permit) if I went to LA It was pretty scary, but I had to go

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Примечания

1

«Off Camera»; Playboy (US), September, 1988

2

«Reeves’ Edge» by John Griffiths; t&b (US), January 1, 1989

3

«Keanu – in his own words» by Janis Hawkridge; Dolly (Aus.), November 1995

4

«Keanu – in his own words» by Janis Hawkridge; Dolly (Aus.), November 1995

5

«Whoa, Dude!» by Karen Moline; Elle (UK), October 1991

6

«Reeves’ Edge» by John Griffiths; t&b (US), January 1, 1989

7

Keanu’s Eccentric Adventure» by Kristine McKenna; Los Angeles Times (US), June 5, 1994

8

Pizzazz pays off big for teenaged ’slob’” by George Gamester; The Toronto Star (Ca), October 10, 1991

9

«Keanu Reeves (say it Key-ah-noo). It means «Cool Breeze from the Mountains» by Karen Krizanovich; Sky (UK), December 1989

10

Seventeen Questions – Keanu Reeves» by Cindy Pearlman; Seventeen (UK), December 1994

11

Keanu Reeves: Hawaiian Punk» by Shari Roman; Details Magazine (US), February 1989

12

Peaking in the Valley» by Lynn Snowden; Rolling Stone (US), March 9, 1989

13

«Keanu Reeves (say it Key-ah-noo). It means «Cool Breeze from the Mountains» by Karen Krizanovich; Sky (UK), December 1989

14

Who’s Hot! – Keanu Reeves» by Bronwen Burke; Dell Publishing Group, New York (US), July 1992

15

He Just Doesn’t Act His Age» by Jim Farber; New York Daily News (US), September 14, 1988

16

Is this teen scream the new DeNiro?» by George Anthony; Toronto Sun – Showcase (Ca), July 5, 1987

17

The Young and the Restless» by Joe Queenan; Movieline (US), February 1990

18

Ball not foul»; The Calgary Sun (Ca), September 14, 2001

19

Keanu Reeves – The Prince»; Young Americans (UK), Spring 1989

20

Like a Chinese Menu» by Leonard Klady; Los Angeles Times (US), October 1, 1988

21

Reeves’ Edge» by John Griffiths; t&b (US), January 1, 1989