Keanu is street wise

9:59am Thursday 17th April 2008

Ellie Genower talks to Keanu Reeves about his gritty cop movie, Street Kings.

She discovers he doesnft own a gun, but is not against US citizens using weapons at certain times

HE has been described as one of the most inscrutable actors to ever hit the big time.

His acting has been criticised as ewoodenf, and he has been nominated for a number of eworst actorf awards.

Yet nearly 20 years after making his name playing loveable dimwit Ted in Bill And Tedfs Excellent Adventure, Keanu Reeves is still getting plum roles in big movies. Not bad for someone who many have dismissed as an unintelligent, bad actor.

In the flesh Reeves is, in fact, articulate, with a knack of successfully deflecting questions he doesnft want to answer. Although he canft explain the secret to his career longevity, he is still enjoying himself, he says.

gItfs not the same, but when it works, itfs still really rewarding and fun,h he says.

gIfm still kind of curious about it, and itfs ever changing.h In his latest role, in gritty and violent movie Street Kings, Reeves stars alongside Forest Whitaker and Hugh Laurie as street-wise LAPD cop, Tom Ludlow. Tom is a bit of a rule bender, but his life is turned upside down when he is implicated in the murder of a fellow officer. What follows is a probe into the dark underbelly of LA policing.

gI liked Tom Ludlow,h says Reeves. gI liked his complexity, I liked the violence. For me it was a nice reach and stretch playing someone very different than myself, so that had an attraction.

gItfs about checks and balances and I think you have to have real checks and balances within policing.

Without those it seems therefs abuses. Should the citizen be able to have a weapon? Yes, why not. I could argue both sides.

gIfm not fundamentally against a citizen having access to a weapon.

Personally I donft own a weapon, so I canft really say.h Despite the cop movie genre being explored in multitudes of Hollywood movies, Reeves still believes Street Kings has enough about it to make it different.

gIt has a lot of different voices in it. It wanders perspective - Hugh Lauriefs perspective, Ludlowfs perspective. The characters are just allowed to be, without anything kind of judging them or guiding them to any perspective.

gYou get archetypes where itfs us and them. But this one has a lot of greys. Itfs a little more sophisticated,h he says.

Researching the role, Reeves spent time with officers from the Los Angeles Police Department.

gOne gentleman in particular was really helpful about what it was like to go home. He gave me this book called Hypervigilance, and itfs a state that a lot of people in law enforcement have to deal with. Basically, youfre always in a kind of fight/flight mode.

Youfre adrenaline is up, youfre in a kind of heightened world. And then you have to come home. How do you deal with that?h Reeves says.

Reeves is less forthcoming on his personal lifec with good reason. His sister has battled leukaemia. In 1999, he and then-girlfriend Jennifer Syme had a stillborn baby. In 2001, after the couple had split, Syme died in a car accident.

The rumour is that hefs not in a serious relationship.

When asked whether he wants to marry and have children, he merely says gsure why not?h.

For a while he had a stint playing bass guitar in grunge band Dogstar, but now only plays recreationally. And as for the infamous LA paparazzi, they can be a pain sometimes. gItfs a situation thatfs gotten a lot more intense than it used to be, so thatfs a drag. It doesnft bother me on a daily basis.h Now 43, Reevesfs choice of roles has matured with him, and hefs happy to play the anti-hero - Neo in The Matrix and now Tom Ludlow in Street Kings.

gThey are good roles to play,h he says. gThe anti-hero or the hero. Itfs interesting to see whatfs going to happen.

What are they looking for?

What do they want? What will they do? Sometimes what they do comes below it, it comes as a sacrifice and at a price.

Maybe the way they do it isnft so great, and thatfs when they become an anti-hero.h Street Kings opens in cinemas tomorrow HOT SHOT: Keanu Reeves finds life tough as LA cop Tom Ludlow in Street Kings

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