5 Amazing Keanu Reeves Donations

May 2024 · 5 minute read

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Keanu Reeves is one of the very best paid actors in Hollywood, and he hasn't taken that privilege with no consideration. His movies have raked in millions and millions of dollars worldwide, and over the process his decades-long career, he has accumulated a mammoth net worth of $360 million.

Many celebrities instantly get started spending the money they earn, spoiling themselves with luxury items, and large mansions. Proving to be very different than the remainder, Keanu lived in hotels and traveled from one movie location to any other with out grounding himself. He didn't spend money on a mansion till Thirteen years after his rise to popularity.

As he journeyed through his occupation, he made a chain of monetary strikes that bettered the lives of those around him. From pay cuts to donations, Keanu Reeves has demonstrated his generosity and true interest for bettering the lives of those round him. As for his tackle cash, and his willingness to be so beneficiant along with his donations, The Chicago Tribune quotes Reeves as saying:

"Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I've already made for the next few centuries."

Helping The Matrix Set Builder With Finances

One of the best possible grossing film franchises is The Matrix. In truth, Keanu Reeves earned smartly over $114 million of his fortune from that movie, on my own. Keanu Reeves, is understood for being in my view hooked up and taking time to speak to those that are operating alongside him on-set. After spending a while speaking to a set builder behind the curtain of the Matrix, he came upon that the gentleman used to be having an overly tricky time with funds at house. He never as soon as requested Keanu for cash, nor did he must. Reeves individually handed him a Christmas bonus of $20,000 to assist him get again on his ft once more.

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Sacrificing His Income

It's no longer simply particular person folks that he's helped - Keanu Reeves has incessantly voluntarily 'taken one for the staff' when filming his motion pictures. On more than one occasion, he has deferred his own source of revenue for the higher advantage of the movie, as a whole.

One instance of this unbelievable generosity was once his $2 million sacrifice for the movie, The Devils Advocate. In order to make sure the manufacturers had sufficient cash to secure Al Pacino for his position within the movie.

That wasn't the only time he made a daring move like this one.

He also sliced nearly all of his source of revenue from The Replacements, in order to go away sufficient wiggle room in the film's budget to deal with the wage of the mythical Gene Hackman.

It's important to realize no one asked and even prompt that he take a pay cut, these were voluntary monetary sacrifices he made for the larger excellent of the films.

Huge Gifting

Keanu Reeves doesn't just give people monetary donations, he in reality appreciates the price of extensive gift-giving as smartly. When he was once on set filming The Matrix Reloaded, Reeves labored very carefully along with his stunt staff every day, and got to understand the gang of guys that labored along him, perfecting his stage presence through lending their talents to his bike stunts.

When they wrapped filming, Reeves for my part decided on a specific Harley Davidson for each stunt man and talented it to them as a thanks for their efforts.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer quotes Keanu's reasoning for this generosity; "I just wanted ... to give a bigger thank-you to all these guys who helped me make this.”

Following the trail of supposed million-dollar handouts led us to an account in The Wall Street Journal that clarifies he cut money out of his contract to better fund the special effects, production and design departments.

Top Secret Charity Foundation

Modest in every way and never one to flaunt his good deeds in an effort to gain recognition, Keanu Reeves silently shuffles millions of dollars towards helping those in need. He created his very own charitable foundation that helps people suffering with various forms of cancer. His sister is a leukemia survivor and he created this in her honor. He also donates to SCORE (Spinal Cord Opportunities for Rehabilitation Endowment), a charity founded in support of hockey players with spinal injuries.

There are a number of charities he assists with and contributes towards, none of which are ever used by him to garner credit or media attention. He silently assists, and departs with quiet kindness.

Re-Directing Back-End Points

When actors play large roles in movies, they are of course paid a handsome salary for their work, most of which is based upon their experience and level of popularity. After the value of their contract is secured, they also negotiate the value of their 'back end points,' which is the commission of earnings. Otherwise known as a chunk of change based on how much money the movie makes, these back-end points translate to millions of dollars, especially when it comes to movies as successful as The Matrix.

Keanu Reeves once again proved that he's more interested in helping those around him than creating more wealth for himself. He took his back-end points (percentage of earnings) and donated every penny to the special-effects and costume-design team.

He truly believed that everyone who worked tirelessly towards the success of the movie should be rewarded.

Perhaps the rest of Hollywood could take a page from Keanu's book, and pay it forward by helping those in need rather than padding their already substantial bank accounts.

READ NEXT: 8 Ridiculously Expensive Things Keanu Reeves Has Bought

Sources: Chicago Tribune, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Wall Street Journal 

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