Locking up in a room for total isolation, not bathing for weeks or even months at a time, developing a rather dangerous smoking habit for certain roles, and threatening people on the set, actors have done it all.

These forms of method acting have long been the most preferential way for some of the most talented actors in Hollywood. But going down this road can be tricky sometimes as it can lead to a lasting effect on the mind and body.

Taking up a pure arthouse project requires a lot of dedication, and most of the time the directors pursue the artists to take some extreme measures to prepare for their role.

Dealing with enough tragedies already throughout his life, even Keanu Reeves could not avoid a certain habit while shooting for a film back in ‘96. The John Wick actor’s reputation precedes him, big time!

What Habit Became Keanu Reeves’ Prison?

The Matrix star’s personality on the screen is stark opposite to the one off the screen. Everyone knows his actual “nice guy” image as he likes to live an extremely humble and low-profile life.

But the roles that he chooses are mostly dark and challenging in nature. One of his older films that he worked on with Cameron Diaz back in ‘96 – Feeling Minnesota had the actor hooked to puffing cigarettes back to back.

The Matrix Reloaded (2003).

The film’s premise followed a love story between Keanu Reeves’ Jacks Clayton and his older brother’s woman Freddie Clayton. On the sets of the film, Reeves picked up a nasty smoking habit, which in an interview with the Daily Mail, he shared –
“I didn’t even start until I was 30. I got hooked making Feeling Minnesota and now it’s a prison, but I want to stop.”

It didn’t take the 58-year-old actor long to leave the life-threatening habit and get back in shape.

Keanu Reeves’ Humility Has Become His Legacy

During press junkets and public appearances, Keanu Reeves shines his own light on the public as the man is extremely kind and polite with people, even the ones others don’t look at.

John Wick

But the smile and humility that he carries, hide some of the most tragic happenings in his life. Losing a father when he was only 3, living a nomadic life, growing up changing schools, never getting a diploma, losing his best friend River Phoenix to drug overdose, losing his child, losing the mother of that child Jennifer Syme, and helping out his sister with leukemia, take your pick!

Even after all these struggles, Reeves has managed to live a sweet and humble life, takes a subway, and even allows cuts in his salary for the projects to keep going.

As the future of the John Wick franchise is still up in the smoke, Keanu Reeves will be seen sharing the screen with Ana De Armas’s Rooney in the spin-off Ballerina slated for release on June 7, next year.