Keanu Reeves Met Fan at His Hotel Bar Who Just Got Married – Later He Surprisingly Appeared at Couple’s Wedding

Movie star, Keanu Reeves, has endured endless tragedies over the years. He and his then-girlfriend, actress Jennifer Syme, were expecting their first child together when tragedy struck.

The couple’s daughter, Ava Archer Syme-Reeves, was stillborn on Christmas Eve in 1999, eight months into Syme’s pregnancy. Reeves and his significant other were left devastated by the loss.

Unfortunately, they broke up weeks after the death of their child. The Hollywood pair met in 1998 at a promotional party and immediately “fell in love” with each other.

Sadly, two years after losing their daughter, Reeves suffered more heartbreak when Syme died in a car accident. She had attended a party and was offered a ride back home but instead chose to drive herself in her Jeep back to the event while drunk. Consequently, she crashed into parked cars and died on the scene.

Keanu Reeves and his mother Patricia Taylor pictured at the funeral of Jennifer Syme on April 7, 2001 in Los Angeles, California | Source: Getty Images

Grieving Syme’s untimely passing, Reeves reportedly said he found it “very, very difficult to cope with her death.” To face the tragedy head-on, he took up the role of John Wick, who lost his wife in the 2014 movie. Of the character, the Canadian native said:

“I thought it was one of the foundations of the role. I love his grief. I relate to that, and I don’t think you ever work through it. Grief and loss don’t ever go away.”

Reeves further explained that grief and loss stay with a person despite their stage in life, “It’s always with you, but like an ebb and flow.”

Keanu Reeves attends the Art For The Heart 2004 fundraiser at Christies on November 4, 2004 in Beverly Hills, California | Source: Getty Images

Since losing his longtime partner and child, Reeves never married or had any kids. And for a long time, he never revealed he was in a relationship until recent years.

He went public with his artist girlfriend, Alexandra Grant, whom he met in 2009 and was friends with for years. The pair crossed paths eight years after Syme passed away and bonded over what Reeves deemed his “self-pity” poetry.

His relationship with Grant was the first he had gone public with in years, as he decided to keep some of his past relationships under wraps. He and the Ohio native had been together publicly for more than two years and a reportedly madly in love.

Visual artist Alexandra Grant and her boyfriend Keanu Reeves attend the 2019 LACMA 2019 Art + Film Gala at LACMA on November 2, 2019 in Los Angeles, California | Source: Getty Images

However, that is not to say that Reeves has fully grieved for his former love and child, and he explained why that is. The actor said people have a pre-conceived notion that people who lose their loved ones could quickly go through the grieving process and it is all over:

“People have a misconception that you can deal with it and say, ‘It’s gone, and I’m better.’ They’re wrong. When the people you love are gone, you’re alone.”

Reeves admitted that he longs to have the people he lost back in his life and misses being a part of their lives too. He added that he ponders how their lives would have turned out were they still alive and what he would have accomplished with them:

“I miss all the great things that will never be. Damn it! It’s not fair! It’s absurd.”

“The Matrix” star stated that all a person could do is remain hopeful that one day, their grief would be “transformed” and that in place of “feeling pain and confusion,” they would be reunited with their loved ones “in memory” and that there would be comfort and gratification and not only “loss.”

Reeves expanded on the subject of death in May 2019 when he appeared on “The Late Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The host asked him what he thinks occurs when one dies, and he took a moment before he answered:

“I know that the ones who love us will miss us.”

Keanu Reeves attends the Art For The Heart 2004 fundraiser at Christies on November 4, 2004 in Beverly Hills, California | Source: Getty Images

Apart from losing his love and daughter, Reeves also lost his beloved friend, actor River Phoenix – who died from a drug overdose at age 23 in 1993.

When he lost his beloved pal, Reeves was also 23 years old and was filming the action movie “Speed” with actress Sandra Bullock. She revealed that the Oregon native’s death significantly impacted Reeves, who tried his best to hide it at the time. “He hides great pain,” she disclosed.

Reeves himself admitted that he felt “terribly” about Phoenix’s passing, adding he was “Incredibly sad. And, I miss him very much.”

When speaking on his friendship with Phoenix, he shared that he was like an “older brother,” to him but “only shorter.” Reeves previously expressed his love for “My Own Private Idaho” co-star during a joint interview, adding: