Keanu Reeves, 59, Says He Thinks 'About Death All the Time': 'Hopefully It's Not Crippling'

Everything OK, Keanu Reeves ?

In a new interview published Monday, July 22, the famed actor revealed a rather morbid fact about himself while promoting his first novel , The Book of Elsewhere , which hit shelves on Tuesday, July 23.

"I'm 59, so I'm thinking about death all the time," Reeves admitted while discussing how death is a prevalent theme in his new book.

Having the dark topic on his mind frequently isn't a bad thing in the John Wick star's eyes, however, as he tries to use it to his advantage.

"Hopefully it's not crippling, but hopefully it's sensitized [us] to an appreciation of the breath we have, and the relationships that we have the potential to have," Reeves explained to the news outlet.

The Matrix actor's novel was written in collaboration with British science fiction author China Miéville and tells the story of an immortal warrior who is determined to die.

The main character is known only by the name "B" and has lived for 80,000 years.

The half-mortal, half-god has a " curse of violence " and wants to end his life despite his immorality preventing him from doing so.

Reeves has unfortunately dealt with death far too many times throughout his life.

In 2001, the Speed star's then-girlfriend, Jennifer Syme , was tragically killed in a car accident at age 28 — just two years after giving birth to their stillborn child .

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Syme was pregnant for eight months before losing her baby. The sad situation put immense pressure on the couple, who parted ways briefly before getting back together in 2001 — prior to the Ellie Parker actress' passing.

Before losing his girlfriend and child within the span of two years, Reeves suffered from the devastating death of his best friend River Phoenix , who fatally overdosed outside of a nightclub in Los Angeles in 1993 at the young age of 23.

Ironically, Reeves met Phoenix on the set of I Love You To Death before developing an extremely close bond as two aspiring actors trying to make it in Hollywood.

Dealing with the amount of immense loss Reeves has had to face in his lifetime might have made others fall off the deep end, however, the A-lister remains known as one of the sweetest stars around — in addition to being ranked by The New York Times in 2020 as the fourth-greatest actor of the 21st century.

Reeves was also declared one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME in 2022.

BBC interviewed reeves.