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:

• Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

  The rom-com is based on William Shakespeare’s play of the same name. Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and her fiance Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard) team up with his commanding officer, Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) — a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John (Keanu Reeves) plots to ruin the wedding.

• Point Break (1991)

  After a string of bizarre bank robberies in Southern California, with the crooks donning masks of various former presidents, a federal agent, Johnny Utah (Reeves), infiltrates the suspected gang. But this is no ordinary group of robbers. They’re surfers — led by the charismatic Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) — who are addicted to the rush of thievery. But when Utah falls in love with a female surfer, Tyler (Lori Petty), who is close to the gang, it complicates his sense of duty.

• Speed (1994)

  Los Angeles police officer Jack Traven (Reeves) angers retired bomb squad member Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) by foiling his attempt at taking hostages. In revenge, Payne arms a bus with a bomb that will explode if it drops below 50 miles per hour. With the help of spunky passenger Annie (Sandra Bullock), Jack and his partner Harry (Jeff Daniels) try to save the people on the bus before the bomb goes off, while also trying to figure out how Payne is monitoring them.

• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

  Francis Ford Coppola directs this film adaptation based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Count Dracula (Gary Oldman), a 15th-century prince, is condemned to live off the blood of the living for eternity. Young lawyer Jonathan Harker (Reeves) is sent to Dracula’s castle to finalize a land deal, but when the Count sees a photo of Harker’s fiancée, Mina Murray (Winona Ryder), the spitting image of his dead wife, Elisabeta, he imprisons him and sets off for London to track her down.

• Hardball (1994)

  For a change of pace, Reeves stars in this sports film as Conor, a ticket scalper, gambler and Little League coach for a rag-tag team of kids in one of the toughest parts of Chicago. He’s no role model, but his buddy Jimmy won’t help him pay off his gambling debts unless Conor coaches Jimmy’s corporately sponsored team. Surprising even himself, Conor becomes attached to his players — and to their attractive schoolteacher (Diane Lane) — and drawn into their tough and sometimes tragic lives.

• Constantine (2005)

  Based on the DC/Vertigo Hellblazer comics, Reeves stars as demon hunter John Constantine. As a suicide survivor, he has literally been to hell and back — and he knows that when he dies, he’s got a one-way ticket to Satan’s realm… unless he can earn enough goodwill to climb God’s stairway to heaven. While helping policewoman Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) investigate her identical twin’s apparent suicide, Constantine becomes caught up in a supernatural plot involving both demonic and angelic forces.

• John Wick (2014)

  You do NOT mess with this man’s dog. When a gangster’s son steals his car and kills his dog, fearless ex-hitman John Wick takes on the entire mob to get his revenge. The movie has been a success, leading to three sequels. The fourth installment of the John Wick franchise is set to release March 24, 2023.

• Devil's Advocate (1997)

  Aspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) accepts a high-powered position at a New York law firm headed by legal shark John Milton (Al Pacino). As Kevin moves up in the firm’s ranks, his wife, Mary Ann (Charlize Theron), has several frightening, mystical experiences that begin to warp her sense of reality. With the stakes getting higher with each case, Kevin quickly learns that his mentor is quite literally the Devil himself.

• The Matrix (1999)

  Keanu is the One, I mean, Neo. In his undeniably most iconic role, Neo believes that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) can answer his question — “What is the Matrix?” Neo is contacted by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), who leads him into an underworld where he meets Morpheus. They fight a brutal battle for their lives against a team of secret agents.

• My Own Private Idaho (1991)

  In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV,” Mike Waters (River Phoenix) is a gay hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves) is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike’s estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.

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