Keanu Reeves is one of the world’s biggest modern movie stars, and he’s also generally seen as a pretty nice guy as well. Reeves himself doesn’t think this is an accident, as his advice to actors looking for their own big break is to do their job and respect the people they work with.
Although Keane Reeves puts it a little more bluntly than that. In speaking with E! About his new movie Outcome, Reeves drops some expletives when offering the advice about what he has learned during his decades working in Hollywood. He said:
Try not to be a f--king a--hole. And go to work and respect who you’re working with until they prove they don’t get your respect.
It's a fitting statement, and something that is pertinent to the actor's new film. In Outcome, Reeves plays a movie star who finds himself being blackmailed and begins to try to make amends to various people he has wronged in an attempt to find his blackmailer. If the character had been a little nicer to people, maybe he wouldn't be in such a situation.
From all outward appearances, Keanu Reeves is somebody who doesn’t just say this, he lives it. Basically, everybody in Hollywood who has ever worked with the man has indicated that he’s just as nice a guy in real life as he often appears in his films. You don’t become the internet’s boyfriend by being a jerk.
It’s certainly worked for him. Keanu has been the star of multiple major franchises over his career, including massive hits like The Matrix and John Wick. Despite being seen as a one-note actor early in his career following the Bill & Ted movies, he’s been quite successful, and one has to believe that if it had been difficult to work with, that wouldn’t be the case.
It’s an often repeated afforism that respect should be earned, and not simply given. Reeves suggests that it’s ok to simply give a person respect at the outset, with the caveat that if that person does not deserve it, it’s ok to take respect away. It’s probably not a terrible strategy, and it likely makes a lot of people around him very happy.
We’ve heard a lot of stories out of Hollywood about various people, frequently movie stars, who seem to have bought into their own hype. They frequently make excessive demands and cause problems on set. While some of them still have careers, they do have reputations for being difficult to work with. Nobody wants to be remembered as the actor who screamed at Rebecca Ferguson. It's much better to be the actor everybody likes working with.
Honestly, this is advice that probably would work for just about anybody in any professional capacity, not simply acting. When in doubt, try to be more like Keanu Reeves. We’d all be better off if we took that to heart.
