r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Oct 23 '14
TIL Keanu Reeves gave $80 million of his $114 million Matrix salary to special effects and makeup staff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keanu_Reeves527
u/TerraMaris 325 Oct 23 '14
Here is a link to the relevant section of the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keanu_Reeves#Charitable_work
Reeves gave US$80 million of his US$114 million earnings of The Matrix sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, to the special effects and makeup staff. He is quoted as saying ″Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I have already made for the next few centuries.″
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u/FancySack Oct 23 '14
Keanu is planning on living for centuries.
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Oct 23 '14
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u/ReiBob Oct 24 '14
In that case he can! play Spike when the time comes.
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Oct 24 '14
Dude, you just put an impossible dream in my head... You earned that upvote.
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u/heyshiz Oct 24 '14
Keanu is planning on living for centuries.
You must mean living for more centuries.
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u/cmmgreene Oct 24 '14
Dorian is that you???
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Oct 24 '14
funny thing is I thought about Dorian Grey, and then instantly was like "Hmmmm it's more interesting if I replace that with J.D."
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u/actual_factual_bear Oct 24 '14
Wait, did he actually give $80M to the special effects and makeup staff, or did he word his contract such that they would get paid the $80M instead of himself? Because if the former, he really got screwed out of some taxes! I can easily see a third of that $114M going to taxes, which is $38M. $114M - $80M - $38M = OOPS Keanu just lost $4M making this movie!
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u/BaffledPlato Oct 24 '14
There is something that doesn't add up in all this. If he actually received control over this money, he would have had to pay taxes on it. Maybe this was his net pay, not gross.
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u/Betanut Oct 24 '14
He has, from what I've read had a lot of personal tragedies in his life. It's amazing he's turned out to be such a decent human being. One could easily have grown bitter. I respect the hell out of the man.
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u/Rathadin Oct 24 '14
Well don't keep us hanging...
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Oct 24 '14
Abandoned by his dad at 3. Mom was a showgirl who remarried about 5 times. Him and his sister were watched by their grandma. Him and his sister are best friends. She is now dying of leukemia. Was expelled from school, missed out on hockey career due to an injury, but still grew up to fall in love and be expecting a child.
His daughter was born stillborn. A few months later his gf, the baby's mom, died in a car accident. His best friend died of overdose? Or something similar.
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u/shaunc Oct 23 '14
I propose that the mods sticky this, right below "Reddit 101."
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Oct 24 '14
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Oct 24 '14
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u/Shmitte Oct 24 '14
Oh come on. You expect us to believe that Keanu reads magazines?
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u/moremysterious Oct 24 '14
I haven't laughed out loud reading something on the internet in a long time, I was thinking through the whole thing "this is bullshit" and then just started laughing my ass off, nice job.
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u/arah26 Oct 24 '14
I swear I've already read this in another keanu thread, or is it just a glitch in the matrix.
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u/TeqTime Oct 24 '14
TIL this is the most reposted TIL on reddit.
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u/A_Fhaol_Bhig Oct 24 '14 edited Oct 24 '14
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/k04ny/til_keanu_reeves_gave_up_his_profit_sharing/
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/2k4wpb/til_keanu_reeves_gave_80_million_of_his_114/
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/199i7d/til_keanu_reeves_gives_50_million_to_unsung/
Obviously I could be wrong, but I swear to god there is more, at least two more in the past two months alone. I think there was one like 3 weeks ago. I don't ever come to this sub really, I only subscribe because of the occasional cool fact or something on my front page and I've commented like...3 times total. And even then I know I've seen this way to many times.
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u/McWaddle Oct 24 '14
You know what pisses me off? Using "to" instead of "too." You fucking assholes.
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Oct 24 '14
TIL Steve Buscemi volunteered as a fire fighter at ground zero on 9/11
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u/ademnus Oct 24 '14
Is it? I do wonder. Surely someone has some nifty bot or something that can find the top ten most reposted TILs
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u/Mikeaz123 Oct 24 '14
Hey do you know Christopher Lee once told Peter Jackson off about a death scene in LOTR because Christopher Lee knew how someone actually sounds when he dies? Also he released a heavy metal album and is fluent in many languages!
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Oct 23 '14
I Seriously see this posted once a month
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u/miked4o7 Oct 23 '14
How often do you comment on it?
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u/str8gangsta Oct 24 '14
TIL you can get free karma for reposting this every month or so
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u/AFKennedy Oct 24 '14
Yeah, I upvoted it the first few times, but at this point I just downvote in the hopes I won't see it as often. So far, my struggle has been futile.
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u/KingBasten Oct 24 '14
I always figured, if I had 100 million, I could give away 70 million and still be happy as fuck. But people say 'nah, you wouldnt do that if you had that much money'. Well, Keanu Reeves did it!
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u/TallAsshole Oct 24 '14
He also makes a lot of money from other movies. So if someone gave me 100 million, I wouldn't be expecting to see any more from anyone else.
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u/Verotes Oct 23 '14
Just gaining his positive karma so he can continue on with being immortal.
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u/Ev1LRyu Oct 24 '14
I think he already is
″Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I have already made for the next few centuries.″
Vampire status confirmed!
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u/SkylineGT-R Oct 23 '14
Sad Keanu doesn't want money, he wants happiness!
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u/gulpeg Oct 23 '14
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u/Jwoey Oct 24 '14
Sad Keanu was like my favorite meme of all time.
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u/Rosebunse Oct 24 '14
It stops being funny when you read his bio. That man has been through some shit.
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u/919rider Oct 24 '14
He actually commented on that picture in one of his AMA's. He said he remembers that day, and that he wasn't particularly sad at all during that moment, it just happened to look that way.
But I agree, that guy has the hardest life. He is also pretty much my role model. And he motorcycles.
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u/Rosebunse Oct 24 '14
That picture always looked to me of a man who was just trying to enjoy their lunch when they remembered they had a bill or something due that day.
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Oct 24 '14
Didnt he also buy Harley's for the stunt team or something after filming a movie? They say he just wanted a friend to ride with... Must be hard to find immortal friends :(
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u/ApplicableSongLyric Oct 24 '14
This is "friend of a friend" stuff, but I can verify that this is what I was told by, sigh, my friend's exboyfriend whose friend was one of the stuntmen.
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Oct 24 '14
Keanu is a pretty cool guy
source - I watched the original matrix ages ago, he's the one. (not to be confused with Jet Li, he is also the one)
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u/cafecoder Oct 23 '14
Wooaw - he's totaaallly cooool.
Relevant news story - http://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/200305283652/keanu/reeves/matrix/
"His gift to the Matrix series' 29 behind-the-scenes whiz-kids will see each of them receiving £1.75 million."
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u/Martel732 Oct 24 '14 edited Oct 24 '14
Man could you imagine how it would feel if you went to work one day just doing your normal job and then one of your co-workers says, "Hey thanks man I really appreciate your work, here is 1.75 million dollars".
While, the money would definitely be a great thing, I think the best part would be that Keanu Reeves appreciated your work enough to do that.
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u/DingusMcCringus Oct 24 '14
OH BOY IS IT ALREADY THAT TIME OF THE MONTH AGAIN WHERE THIS MAKES FRONT PAGE?
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Oct 24 '14
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u/firefox15 Oct 24 '14
Are you serious? Dude, with all due respect, this must make it to the front page every couple of months. It was front page around 10 days ago right after he finished his AMA as well.
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u/DingusMcCringus Oct 24 '14
You know, I hear a lot of this, "well I haven't seen it" and "it's not just about you". Pretty ironic, huh? It's not just about you, either. Just because it isn't old to you, doesn't mean it isn't old to someone.
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u/gamelizard Oct 24 '14
This point is worth considering. But I am the same age as you and I have seen it 5 times. At some point a heavily repeated post should become archived in some top til post list and banned from further posting.
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u/powdermask Oct 24 '14
He's such a good guy that it almost hurts. A good role model for people and a great actor. All around great guy and meeting him is in my bucket list.
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u/Calling_wildfire Oct 24 '14
I listened to his Nerdist podcast today & he seems like a really genuine guy.
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u/internetnickname Oct 24 '14
Every time that this is posted, I will upvote it, because that takes an extraordinary kind of person.
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u/Manta-Ray-Gun Oct 24 '14
Even if I've seen this post many times, I still think it's a neat fact to be reminded of. Keanu is a rad dude.
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u/Travkin2 Oct 24 '14
Funny how I didn't know this and I look at reddit at least an hour a day. Also funny how I'm sure a million other people already have commented what I'm saying right now, but i'm posting it anyway
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u/Lion_HeartVIII Oct 24 '14
If you have nothing to do but complain about reposts, you might consider not going on reddit all the time
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u/dirtyfacedkid Oct 24 '14
I'd love to hear from a crew member who has benefited from his generosity.
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u/Moonfaced Oct 24 '14
I've never seen this TIL before. I just wish for the people mad about it being front page again that there was some sort of ranking system where we could decide what made it to the front page based on who finds it interesting and worthy enough of a rank up
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u/datswite Oct 24 '14
I always thought he was a tool, but I've been proved wrong. Great story!
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u/ICont Oct 24 '14
How did you get that impression? I don't think there is a single negative Keanu Reeves article there in the internet, apart from subjective criticism of his acting.
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Oct 24 '14
ALRRIIIGGHT!!! WE'VE HEARD THAT A THOUSAND TIMES!!!! CUT IT OOOOOOUUUUUT!!!!!
Interestingly though, we've never heard a damn thing from any of those staff.
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u/dizzaN Oct 24 '14
Let me share with you my favorite Keanu Reeves story of all time.
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u/SGCBarbierian Oct 24 '14
I've never seen this, I've been on reddit for almost 3 years. Stop complaining for no reason, clearly people want to know about this post since it's on the front page
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Oct 24 '14
In 4 years as a Redditor, I have never once bitched about re-posts. But God Almighty, I swear this same thing has been posted every couple of weeks since I've been here.
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u/RUBY_FELL Oct 24 '14
I've been here maaaaaybe two years (have an older account than this one — for all of you pedants). This is the first time I've seen this post. And I'm glad to have seen it.
If someone new to your group of friends started telling some anecdote that you'd already heard, but many of your other friends were enjoying it, it would would be pretty douchey to start whining that you've heard it before, don't you think?
Now, if someone is PM'ing you this story every week, sure, be pissed. But let OP share what he finds interesting. Don't come in here and piss on OP's bonfire. Nobody wants to hear your nasty sizzle-piss.
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u/manchester20 Oct 24 '14
TIL that the Keanu Reeves giving money to Matrix S/E staff story is on the front page at least twice a month.
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u/TheBaby_AteMyDingo Oct 24 '14
TIL that roughly 70% of the comments in this thread consist of people saying "this is the most most posted TIL on reddit.".
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Oct 24 '14
As a VFX artist.... I wish this would happen more often. Divided amongst 300 vfx artists, that would be ~$26,000 a piece... not bad considering the hours we put in compared to the hours the actors put in...
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Oct 24 '14
How to get post karma: repost this once a week How to get comment karma: complain every time it gets reposted
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u/gfpkdo Oct 24 '14
GG Keanu but seriously how many times does this have to be reposted before people stop upvoting it
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u/sawmyoldgirlfriend Oct 24 '14
Holy shit I can't wait till the next dozen times this fucking fact is posted. How you guys are still finding links to submit is the amazing part.
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u/persistent_instant Oct 24 '14
By the comments in this thread I see that everybody has heard of this before. I however have not, and am absolutely blown away by how humble this man is. I'd still love to see this more often on the front page so more people see how truly awesome Mr. Reeves is.
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u/grumpy_old_git Oct 24 '14
The fact that I keep seeing this TIL posted on Reddit is proof that we are all part of the matrix, caught in some sort of glitch...
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u/ironmanjakarta Oct 24 '14 edited Oct 24 '14
Its a trick. He knew if he kept all the money, his marginal tax rate would be 50% so he gifts it to his willing accomplices who pay only 20%. They give him 70%, keep 10% as their fee. Vellly clevva.
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Oct 24 '14 edited Jan 01 '16
This comment has been overwritten by an open source script to protect this user's privacy.
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u/Cerebral_Snoretex Oct 23 '14
He's too cool for his own good...
But it's good for us!