It’s undeniable that Keanu Reeves and fashion go together like peanut butter and jelly. In fact, you could say Reeves was born an icon, a closeted fashionista who could do no wrong, whether photographed with a scruffy beard, in his slim frame bare chested or sporting a suit.
So it was a natural progression that the actor, now in his fifties, would become the face of a major fashion house. And with Anthony Vaccarello now at the helm of Saint Laurent as Creative Director of the French maison, it turned out to be the perfect fit. I mean, Vaccarello may be Belgian-born but he’s all Italian heritage to me — and we know a thing or two about beauty and fashion.
As GQ dedicates their May 2019 cover to the actor, calling this second half of his life the actor’s “icon era”, I wanted to dedicate a bit of this blog to the one star who remains my dream interview. After Jake Gyllenhaal — with whom I chatted two years ago in Cannes and who became even more of a personal favorite after that — Keanu Reeves is it. Once I get that bit of business done, I’ll retire. Mark. My. Words.
Why, you may ask? Well aside from his obvious good looks, there is a mystery hidden behind this man whose talents can so easily be dismissed, because he’s just that good at hiding behind his characters. I know that a simple, short, and to the point conversation with him would turn out completely different from anything I could ever plan. The unexpected is often wonderful, especially in film journalism.
Keanu Reeves photographed by David Sims, for Saint Laurent
And as the title of this blog post goes, there is just something about Keanu.
It’s enough to observe the reaction he causes on social media. The moment news of ‘John Wick Chapter 3’ trailers and teaser posters broke, Twitter was on fire. “There’s a dog in the poster” said one Tweet, while many other “tweeples” commented on this latest John Wick installment’s ‘Matrix’ vibe and extra bloody sequences. I mean Reeves has his own emoji — when you type the hashtag #KeanuReeves, and even one for #JohnWick — which, you guessed it, is tiny bloody Keanu.
Am I excited about his collaboration with Saint Laurent and French fashion? You betcha! And I think it’s high time that collaboration also included a short film shot by Luca Guadagnino, the king of fashion meets cinema with megastars. No disrespect David Sims, but this is a cinematic kind of thing.