KEANU REEVES (b. September 2, 1964)
September 2, 2011.
THOUGH BORN IN BEIRUT, Lebanon, Keanu Reeves grew up in Toronto where he acquired his Canadian nationality and a passion for hockey (he made his feature-film debut playing a Quebecois goalie in the 1985 sports drama Youngblood). We mention this because today is his birthday and, whoa, it seemed like a good time pay tribute to one of the genre's most laid-back action heroes. From the choices offered, pick the correct answer to the follow Keanu queries.
1. Everyone remembers Reeves' big screen encounter with the Bard of Avon as Don John in director Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Less well known is his return to Canada to take to the stage playing the title role in a 1995 Manitoba Theatre Centre production. Did he play (a) Hamlet; (b) Henry V; or (c) Timon of Athens?
2. Still in Canada, Reeves had the title role in the cyberpunk epic Johnny Mnemonic (1995). Filmed in Montreal and Toronto, it was based on a story and screenplay by an award-winning British Columbia-based novelist, Was it (a) Douglas Coupland; (b) William Gibson; or (c) Spider Robinson?
3. Reeves' breakout role was in the public-transit thriller Speed
4. In The Matrix trilogy (1999, 2003), Reeves' co-star was a triple-named Canadian-born action actress. Was she (a) Pamela Anderson Lee; (b) Carrie-Anne Moss; or (c) Catherine Mary Stewart?
5. Posthumously famous as a story source for hit movies, onetime Vancouver resident Philip K. Dick's output includes a tale that provided Reeves with a starring role. Was it (a) The Adjustment Bureau (2001); (b) Minority Report (2002); or (c) A Scanner Darkly (2006)?
BONUS QUESTION:
Yes, we've had Reeves spottings in Vancouver. The globe-trotting actor was in town to star in the remake of a classic sci-fi thriller. Was it (a) The Fog (2005); (b) The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008); or (c) The Andromeda Strain (2008)?
ANSWERS:
1. (a) Hamlet (under the direction of Lewis Baumander, with Liisa Repo-Martell as his Ophelia).
2. (b) William Gibson, who is credited with coining the term "cyberspace" (in his 1982 novel Burning Chrome).
3. (a) Mission to Mars; (Red Planet, though not written by Yost or filmed here, starred Vancouver-born Carrie-Anne Moss; Martian Child, also not written by Yost but filmed in Vancouver, was based on a novel by David Gerrold).
4. (b) Carrie-Anne Moss, who played Trinity to Reeves' Neo.
5. (c) A Scanner Darkly, in which Reeves played undercover drug enforcement officer Bob Arctor.
BONUS ANSWER:
(c) The Day the Earth Stood Still, as Klaatu, the alien visitor (played by Michael Rennie in the original 1951 feature).
The above is a restored version of a VCON 36 Website quiz by Michael Walsh originally posted in 2011. For additional information on this archived material, please visit my FAQ.