Look, Reeves is a movie star and has been for decades. We can readily see that he does not, in fact, still look like he did in The River’s Edge, My Own Private Idaho, Speed, Point Break or even The Matrix. He looks his age. Insisting that he looks young is pretty much saying “You’re 54 years old - how come you don’t look disgusting?!”
He (and co-star Halle Berry) can simply be attractive 50-somethings. Really! It’s legal and everything!
Yeah, I’ve reached my sixties… the age where people start saying “You look great!”
I always arch an eyebrow and reply “Don’t think I didn’t hear the note of surprise in your voice…”
I think part of it’s “You look so much better than sixty-year-olds did when I was a kid!” Yeah, well, those old farts were on a diet of ground beef, unfiltered Camels and lethargy.
The thread title made me wonder why you wanna hate on Keanu, but now I see what you’re saying. Obviously people think he looks good for his age but if they stood him next to someone in their 30s, they’d see he does indeed look middle aged. Still fit and handsome(a quick run of a brush through his hair wouldn’t hurt)but he’s certainly not getting id’ed at the door.
I will agree …
When I knew my paternal grandmother, she was in her late 60s. She was the typical [for the late 60s and into the 70s, she died in 1978 at 79 years old] little delicate 5 foot even birdlike old grey haired lady who did the whole hairdresser once a week for a wash and set, sit around knitting grandmother. [Well, a bit formal, her cook made the best molassass with raisin cookies … ] My mother at the same age was grubbing in the dirt gardening, president of the local school board, still traveling with my dad on vacations and cooking/cleaning without a maid. She did complain occasionally about arthritis, usually on cold rainy days, but in general she was pretty active into her late 70s.
Me? I am now 56. I have physical handicaps, but I don’t feel old other than aches and pains. I discover new music, though retired from game testing, still play MMORPGs and hang out online. What is it like to be old? I don’t feel any different than when I was young, just slowed down because of infirmity.
I remember my mother when she was my current age, and she was old. Of course, she was a smoker who was afraid to go out of the house, mostly sitting around smoking, reading and watching TV.
I’m out every day, walking at least an hour, going places, interacting with people and holding down a job. And i do not smoke, drink alcohol or do any drugs.
I’m 64. People who don’t know it think I’m in my 40’s.
To be fair, Keanu is from the modern generation of male stars who were originally cast for their “boyish” looks. Even as they age they remain youthful vs. the general populace. Think Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, etc.
In the olden days, the standard for male stars was Gary Cooper, John Wayne, etc. Even in their early years they looked like adults. Hollywood doesn’t cast for that look any more.
Age-wise these perpetually youthful looking stars are old enough to be grandparents, at the very least well into middle-aged, but they don’t fit our media image of gray hair/balding, wire-rimmed glasses, soft around the middle types. Can you imagine Tom Cruise playing Jed Clampett? Tom is 56, Buddy Ebsen was 54 when Beverly Hillbillies started. (Yes, I know, Tom is not a Jed Clampett “type”, so he wouldn’t be considered. I just use this silly comparison to illustrate my point.)
An example I’ve made is Abe Vigoda. He was only fifty when he appeared in The Godfather. But can you imagine somebody like Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, or Keanu Reeves (all of whom are now older than Vigoda was) playing Tessio?
The good die young. But we can rack up a lot of years before we die young.
Breakfast of champions!
But does he look his *real *age, though?
This thread is in response to…what? Who of consequence is claiming he looks young?
The good die young because any age the good die is too soon.
It’s a somewhat popular internet meme.
He is looking a bit aged lately, but up until a couple of years ago he looked to have not aged since Bill & Ted’s.
Paul Rudd actually does look young for 50 though since we’re on the subject.
I live in KY, the 12th most obese state (31% of the population, 18% of people under age 18), where the food pyramid is lard, cigarettes, red meat and bourbon. The “Keanu must be immortal” annoys because it seems to reinforce the mindset here that aging well is less about making better choices and involves sorcery or genetics.
William Shatner is the one that amazes me, the guy is 88!!! How does he still look so young? Maybe he had hair plugs and plastic surgery or whatever but I still don’t think most people who have that done would look so young at his age.
I think a lot of it is attitude.
People like Shatner (and Neeson and Schwarzenegger) are forces of nature.
Paul Rudd? Bryan Cranston? Lovin’ life, man…
Keanu could look as old as the hills, and he would just be old Keanu. I don’t see the point in focusing on just how old he looks or is. It’s Keanu, guys!