Hollywood’s well-liked, celebrity actor, Keanu Reeves, is getting praise for his act of kindness with his windfall from the first Matrix movie. A new report from The Lad Bible reveals the actor donated 70% of his ‘Matrix’ salary to cancer research.
57-year-old Reeves was reportedly paid $10 million upfront for the 1999 sci-fi flick, before earning a further $35 million when the movie became a box office blockbuster.
Reeves reportedly donated 70% of the money, a whopping $31.5 million to leukemia research. He was inspired to fund research into blood cancer after his sister Kim, now 55, was diagnosed in 1991. She evidently spent a decade in and out of treatment before finally entering remission in 2001.
Reeves created his own cancer fund and continued to give money to cancer research in the years after Kim was cured.
In addition to his sizable donation, the Speed and Point Break star also launched a cancer charity foundation. When he spoke to the Ladies Home Journal in 2009 he revealed he had: ” a private foundation that’s been running for five or six years, and it helps aid a couple of children’s hospitals and cancer research.” He emphasized he doesn’t “like to attach” his name to it and just lets “the foundation do what it does.”
Reeves has built an admirable reputation for being charitable with his earnings over the years. As Daily Mail points out, “according to a 2001 Wall Street Journal report, the star handed over a significant portion of his second and third Matrix film back-end points to the VFX and costume design teams.” There have also been smaller gestures along the way, such as buying $9,000 Rolex watches for members of the John Wick 4 stunt team back in the Fall.
Renny Osworth writes on celebrities.
