Kill’em With Kindness — Keanu Reeves
How To Be Nice Like Keanu Reeves.
Keanu Reeves has been the biggest topic for months since the release of John Wick 3. We heard that he had been nothing but a gentleman and genuine person, even when he encountered fans in public.
So what did he do that made us love him even when we heard that being too nice may end up dooming ourselves?
My friends and I picked up a few things when watching the interviews that made him quite a star, aside from him being a famous actor for a long time and handsome, despite looking like he never aged. Hopefully, this may also help you in your journey to be a nice person without being run over by others.
Quick Note: Keanu had experienced tragics in his life. He mentioned how his father left his family when he was a toddler, suffered dyslexia, lost his best friend, and his girlfriend and child. He is an introvert. But that did not stop him from being bitter about life. Instead, this may have affected his way of treating others, which will be discussed below.
1) Respecting Others
In most of his interviews, there were never moments that he didn’t acknowledge others. Even when he was the one getting the praises, he would divert the praises to others say (I may be paraphrasing as well) “We had incredible stunt teams”, “Thank you fans”, and a lot of praises for everyone. Here is an example of one of his acknowledgments when he was asked what he felt being known as the “Internet’s boyfriend”. We’ve seen how he did not touch ladies who wanted pictures with him since he respected them.
This simple act of gratitude can win the hearts of many people. When you are being praised for your work, make sure to also remember the people whom you worked with and supported you along the way. Not only that you are acknowledging them, but you are also praising their efforts and remembered them.
It is rare to find interviews of him getting into an argument about anything. There was a time he was followed and instead of calling 911 first, he had a chat with the stalker AND THEN called the police.
Though it is also one of Keanu’s nature that he’s not good at handling compliments. Every time he was praised, he quickly averted it to others. But this is a good thing because he doesn’t self-depreciate.
When we are praised, sometimes we might reply “No, it’s not much”, “It’s all right”, or “Don’t say that, I’m not that good”. This is one of the reasons why you may be stepped on by people because you are risking yourself on being insecure. What Keanu did was taking the praises on the project and then passed it over to the others instead of self-deprecating, like the picture above. So no matter who the people are, even if they may be ‘lower-class’ than you, ensure that you remember them as well, which brings me to the next point.
2) Treating Everyone Equally
We have heard about how Keanu hung around with homeless people, donating to charities, helping strangers when they couldn’t afford something, and many others that we never thought anyone would do. That’s because he doesn’t see himself as a ‘high-class’ person. He treats everyone equally, doesn’t get his ego do the talking and believed that everyone has value with a little help.
When you see others as equal, you are willing to give others a chance.
In addition, we have seen how many people joined social media to elevate their status or get into the trend. However, Keanu did not join any sorts of social media, which helped his nature on treating everyone as equal.
I should point out as well that social media is very addictive, especially when you are notified that someone ‘liked’ your status or pictures. This is a dangerous zone to be since you are risking yourself to be ego-centric that may lead to your depression.
Studies have shown that social media such as Instagram and Facebook are causing users to be depressed. I am not saying that you should not use them, but try to decrease the amount of time you are on social media. I can explain the reason for depression from social media in another article.
The point is, when you let go of your ego, whether you are from a wealthy family or graduated student from high ranking universities, you will understand that your life means so much more when you are able to connect with others. This is because you are willing to talk to everyone and give your time for them.
All these 2 points lead to the next one:
3) Strong Body Language
In most of his interviews, he talked very little about himself and kept changing the center of attention to his teams instead. Additionally, he is not very energetic during conversations UNLESS when it’s about his works or things that don’t involve himself. The way he showed his support and enthusiasm are from his body language.
He did not say a lot that gets us to know that he is enthusiastic, but his body language tells them all. When Keanu got excited about certain projects, his body language tends to be very open.
Look at how he was giving an idea about a new ‘Speed’ movie title with Ellen. His enthusiasm is shown from his hand gestures that are quite open, which signifies that he is also willing to do another ‘Speed’ movie. His jokes through words don’t even last as long as his body language.
People are attracted to others who are enthusiastic/passionate/supportive about certain things. They are willing to invest in something that is bigger than themselves, true to their words, and focused. I wrote about why we are more drawn to Disney’s villain than their protagonist because they are willing to do whatever it takes to see the world they see through their eyes. You can read it here:
Whether you are an introvert or extrovert, there are many ways to know when you are energetically encouraging. You can tell by how fast they talked, facial expression (Emilia Clarke is a master in this), how much they kept moving around like Keanu.
The point is, this helped his nature on being nice and getting people to like him. Since introverts like Keanu doesn’t show enthusiasm through words, he used his body language such as rubbing both of his hands, opening his arms around, or acting silly, to express about the new projects that are on its way, how amazing it will be, what he felt during his experiences on his work, or how fantastic fans are.
I also found that in public speaking, this helped a lot to get people’s attention. Remember when I said that we are drawn to people who are enthusiastic about something and they express it? This is one of them. You showed your radiating passion or knowledge you want to share to people that can get people’s attention by doing this. That’s why some people open their palms when speaking because it signifies that you can trust this person, and it gets their attention.
So if you are excited about something, don’t hide it, show it!
In Conclusion
Of course, some of us are not famous actors….YET. But that should not stop people from seeing values in others, respecting them, and be excited about life no matter how hard it is.
There may be other things that Keanu did to make him very likable but these are the top charisma that made him such a gentleman (and getting ladies to be attracted to him):
- Respecting Others
- Treats Everyone Equally
- Strong Body Language
Remember to also tone down your ego. It is not cool to be proud and arrogant, even if that can help you look confident. Keanu proved this. By letting go of your ego, those three steps will be easier to be executed.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and a big round of applause for you as well for following me all this time.
