Keanu Reeves Shares Why He Thinks About Death "All the Time"

Keanu Reeves always has an eye towards the future.

The Matrix star recently shared that as he's started to get older, he is trying to make peace with the idea of dying.

"I'm 59," Keanu told BBC News in an interview published July 22, "so I'm thinking about death all the time."

And while he joked that he's "young old," he believes that "thinking about death is good."

"Hopefully it sensitizes to an appreciate of the breath we have," he continued, "and the relationships that we have the potential to have."

In fact, the Speed actor is exploring the end of life even more in his new novel, The Book of Elsewhere, about an immortal warrior who wishes he could die.

But this is far from the first time Keanu has ruminated on the idea of death. During a 2019 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the conversation took a philosophical turn when the host asked Keanu, "What do you think happens when we die, Keanu Reeves?"

The John Wick alum took a moment to ponder the question before replying, "I know that ones who love us will miss us."

The response left both Stephen and the audience stunned, as Stephen quietly mouthed "Wow" before leaning over the shake Keanu's hand.

And he continues to be not just an inspiration not just to his fans, but also to his longtime girlfriend, Alexandra Grant.

"He's so creative," she told People in September, "he's so kind. He works so hard."

And that creativity adds to the painter and sculptor's relationship with him.

"My work is much more of a private performance, but I have a text that I interpret in the studio into a painting, into an object," the 51-year-old shared. "He takes the text in private and then turns it into a performance in public. There's a relationship. We're both at the heart readers and researchers. We both care about people and we care about characters."

But there's one aspect of Keanu's character that the artist particularly loves, which is that the two of them are constantly "pushing each other to build new roads."

As she put it, "Seeing the other person's problem-solving is inspiring."