Keanu Charles Reeves (pronounced /keˈɑːnuː/ ; born September 2, 1964) is a Lebanese-born Canadian actor, best known for his portrayals of a spaced-out metalhead in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (which went on to become a cult classic) and in two action films that were both financial and critical successes: the "ticking time bomb" thriller Speed and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix. He has worked under major directors, such as with Stephen Frears (in the 1988 period drama Dangerous Liaisons); Gus Van Sant (in the gritty 1991 independent film My Own Private Idaho (also written by Van Sant)); and Bernardo Bertolucci (in the 1993 film Little Buddha). His role as a rookie FBI agent in the 1991 surf drama Point Break (opposite Patrick Swayze) was praised by The New York Times critic Janet Maslin, who stated that Reeves "...displays considerable discipline and range.".

In addition to his film roles, Reeves has also performed in theater. His performance in the title role in a Manitoba Theatre Centre production of Hamlet was praised by Roger Lewis, the Sunday Times, who called Reeves "...one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he * is* Hamlet." On January 31, 2005, Reeves received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In an ET online survey in 2006, he was included in the "Top Ten of America's Favorite Stars".

Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of Patricia Bond (née Taylor), a costume designer/performer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr., a geologist. Reeves's mother is English, and his father is an American of Hawaiian and Chinese descent. Reeves's mother was working in Beirut when she met his father. Reeves' father worked as an unskilled laborer and earned his GED while imprisoned in Hawaii for selling heroin at Hilo International Airport. He abandoned his wife and family when Reeves was three years old, and Reeves does not currently have any relationship with him. Reeves is named after his uncle, Henry Keanu Reeves. Keanu is a Hawaiian word which means cool breeze over the mountains. When Reeves first arrived in Hollywood, his agent thought his first name was too exotic, so during the early days of his film career he was sometimes credited as K.C. Reeves. Reeves has one biological sister named Kim (born 1966 in Australia) who was diagnosed with leukemia in the early 1990s. Additionally, through his mother he has a half-sister named Karina Miller (born 1976 in Toronto) and through his father another half-sister named Emma Rose Reeves (born 1980 in Hawaiʻi).