Londoner’s Diary
Keanu Reeves is best known for playing brooding characters in action movies, so it may come as a surprise that his biggest influence is a British comedy troupe. The John Wicke star was asked at the Southbank Literature Festival what book, TV show or film from his childhood “has been the biggest inspiration” for his work. After initially saying he didn’t know, Reeves then said Monty Python. “It was such a wonderful influence and model of storytelling,” he said, adding that he admired the humour, “which was so physical but also so intellectual and social”.
The actor grew up in Toronto, but his mother was from Essex and introduced him to English comedy sketch shows from the 60s and 70s like The Two Ronnies and Kenny Everett, or “the one who always had the boobs out,” as Reeves put it.
