Keanu Reeves’ Fascination With Death Is ‘Troubling to People Around Him’: He Has ‘a Lot of Life to Live’

Keanu Reeves has every reason to be joyful, so friends of the actor are wondering why he’s having these dark and depressing thoughts about death, and they hope he shakes out of it.

In a July 22 interview with BBC News, the 59-year-old Matrix star got candid about his feelings on dying.

“I’m 59, so I’m thinking about death all the time,” he said. “Hopefully it’s not crippling, but hopefully it’s sensitized [us] to an appreciation of the breath we have, and the relationships that we have the potential to have.”

Now, an insider exclusively tells Closer, “Keanu seems preoccupied with the idea of dying,” adding, “Nobody is depriving him the right to talk about it but to be that macabre and fascinated with death is troubling to people around him.”

Friends of the actor are said to be worried, given how much life Keanu actually has ahead of him. “He says he’s 59 but that’s not ancient by anyone’s standards,” the insider shares. “He has a lot of life to live and so much to be grateful for.”

In fact, Keanu has received many accolades and praise throughout his years in Hollywood. In 2020, The New York Times ranked him as the fourth-greatest actor of the 21st century, and in 2022 Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Aside from acting, Keanu is an avid motorcyclist and is cofounder of the custom manufacturer ARCH Motorcycle.

Plus, he has a lot of love in his life. In 2009, he met longtime girlfriend Alexandra Grant, and the couple officially went public with their relationship in November 2019.

In a September 2023 interview with People, the 51-year-old visual artist gushed about her boyfriend. “The good news about falling in love as an adult is that I had built my own career by the time that my relationship had begun,” she told the outlet. “I feel very confident in the relationship on the red carpet. I feel confident on it alone.”

She added, “What I love about Keanu and our exchange is that we’re pushing each other to build new roads. Seeing the other person’s problem-solving is inspiring, like, ‘Oh, well, OK, this one, that’s a cul-de-sac. How do I try this other thing?’ He’s such an inspiration to me. He’s so creative, he’s so kind. He works so hard.”

Alexandra and Keanu have also worked together on multiple books, proving that their working relationship runs just as deep as their romantic relationship.

According to Closer‘s source, “He’s got Alexandra, his loving partner and wife-in-waiting, his career is hot, his motorbike business is successful, so why is he fixated on his own mortality? That’s the question everyone’s asking and they’re waiting for him to get over it and move on to sunnier subjects.”

Though Alexandra and Keanu have not announced any plans to walk down the aisle, it seems like they are truly meant to be. “Whenever you’re around Keanu and Alexandra, you get a sense of calmness,” an insider told Closer in May 2020. “There’s just something about them that puts you at ease.”