Keanu Reeves has long been a Hollywood fan-favorite for his gracious personality, kindness, and generosity. Just two months ago, the John Wick star gifted all the guys on his stunt team a Rolex Submariner each in thanks for their work on the franchise, and now he has revealed that he donated 70% of his earnings from the original 1999 The Matrix to cancer research.
According to The New York Post, Reeves made a total of $45 million USD for the global blockbuster, but decided to give away $31.5 million USD of that sum to fund leukemia research. At the time, the actor’s younger sister was fighting the disease and so the issue was close to his heart, but even after her recovery, Reeves continued his philanthropic work in the field, establishing a private fund back in the early 2000s for cancer research.
“I have 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,” Reeves told the Ladies Home Journal back in 2009. “I don’t like to attach my name to it, I just let the foundation do what it does.”
