A new report claims Keanu Reeves donated 70% of his Matrix salary to cancer research

Last Updated on January 5, 2022

Do you want more proof that Keanu Reeves is the nicest guy working in Hollywood, then here’s a new report that the actor donated a large chunk of his salary from 1999’s The Matrix to cancer research.

Reeves was reportedly paid an upfront salary of $10 million for the original film but, sensing that the movie would be a game-changing success, Reeves took a percentage of the film’s box office which earned him a further $35 million when The Matrix went on to gross $466.6 million worldwide. According to LAD Bible, Reeves donated a whopping 70% of that money, a staggering $31.5 million, to leukemia research.

The decision to do this would not be on a whim for Reeves because the cause is near and dear to his heart. The actor’s younger sister, Kim, had been battling the disease for eight years when he decided to make the donation. Kim was diagnosed with blood cancer in 1991 and spent a decade in and out of treatment before she thankfully entered remission in 2001. Reeves has continued to give money to cancer research in the years since and he even created his own cancer fund.

Reeves doesn’t really do a lot of this for attention. He secretly set up his nonprofit and it ran for years without any attention. During a chat with Ladies Home Journal in 2009, Reeves said, “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. I don’t like to attach my name to it, I just let the foundation do what it does.”

Back in 2020, Reeve auctioned off a 15-minute Zoom date with himself, and that money was donated to Camp Rainbow Gold, a summer program for Idaho children with cancer. The winning bidder reportedly paid more than $19,000 for the Zoom date with Reeves.

I think most actors would dream of having the reputation (and salary) of Keanu Reeves. His generosity is really no surprise to his fans because his casual kindness has emerged in a few ways over the years. He’s very good to the crew he works with on his films, including helping John Wick crew members shift heavy equipment, to gifting them with lavish gifts after filming wraps. He’s clearly one of the good ones and a much-needed bright spot in an industry that sometimes doesn’t shine a light on kindness like this enough.