Keanu Reeves allegedly donated up to 70 per cent of his Matrix income to cancer research, according to new reports.
His younger sister Kim was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1991 and spent a decade battling the disease before going into remission in 2001.
During that time, Reeves was generous enough to donate to numerous cancer charities – and even went so far as to establish his own foundation in Kim’s honour – but nobody knew about the foundation until 2009.
“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,” he told Ladies Home Journal.
“I don’t like to attach my name to it, I just let the foundation do what it does.”
Lad Bible recently claimed Reeves donated “around 70 per cent of his salary from The Matrix to leukaemia to aid in the search for a cure.”
It has been widely reported that Reeves received US$10 million salary for the movie, plus a 10 per cent “back-end clause” which would have earned him an additional US$35 million when the film grossed US$460 million at the box office.
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However, Reeves reportedly gave the US$35 million straight back to the special effects team as a way of saying thanks for bringing the movie to life.
According to The Wall Street Journal, his contract for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions included clauses to share part of his profits with the special effects and costume departments.
An executive who spoke with The WSJ said, “He felt that they were the ones who made the movie and that they should participate.”
Now, the New York Post has calculated US$31.7 million was donated to cancer research, which leaves little for the special effects team as commonly reported.
Either way, Keanu Reeves is a keen philanthropist.
When all is said and done, it’s estimated Reeves has given away approximately US$80 million of the US$114 million he made from the first three Matrix movies.
That’s on top of gifting the stunt crew Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
In a 2006 interview with Hollywood.com, Reeves confirmed his feelings towards money.
“Money doesn’t mean anything to me. I’ve made a lot of money, but I want to enjoy life and not stress myself building my bank account,” he said.
“I give lots away and live simply, mostly out of a suitcase in hotels. We all know that good health is much more important.”
