Keanu Forever

I think the first celebrity I ever saw face-to-face in NYC was Susan Sarandon. Or maybe it was Derek Jeter. Or was it David Duchovny? My point is that I’ve seen a lot of them. In fact just last night, I swear I was standing in line behind Toby McGuire at Shake Shack. Seeing celebrities is just a ‘thing’ when you live in New York City. It’s normal. No big deal. But– when you’re from out of town and you come to find yourself in close quarters with someone like Keanu Reeves, it is a big deal. That is precisely what happened last week to my little sister Kristina (always little, yes, even at 32), and I am cracking up.

It was Saturday night, we were out in Soho after dinner with our other sister and niece. It was late and after a number of drinks, we’d finally decided to call it a night. I was standing outside the bar chatting it up with some new friends and my sis runs out yelling, “Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh,” I just met and hugged Keanu Reeves.” 

“What?” I replied with a dubious half smile.

“Yes. Look inside,” she replied, pointing to the glass to show me that it was indeed him. He looked to be about 6′-2″ and though not the hot young thing we drooled over in our high school days when he was a major Hollywood heart-throb, he is still a pretty damn good looking fellow. 

So I asked her, “How did you hug him?” (I mean, who hugs celebrities?)

She began… 

“Well I saw him and I knew it was him but I asked anyway: “Are you Keanu Reeves?” 

“Uh yes. I’m Keanu Reeves,” he replied. (Can’t you just hear his voice?!)

Then she looked up at him and said, [brace yourselves]: “I really love watching your surfing movie.” Note here: she decides to mention a movie from…over 20 years ago! That would be fine if he had given up acting at some point during the twenty years. But no, he’s still around. Sure, not the it-man he once was (??) but yeah, he still pops up here and here. Another fun fact here is that my sister stands 5-‘1″ and she pretty much looks like a doll. Imagine this scenario.

So Keanu replies, “Ah, Point Break.” 

“Yeah, Point Break” she said back, gushing I’m sure. And then she continues: “I know you probably get this all the time, and I don’t want to harass you…but, can I hug you?”

And Keanu [the darling] replies, “Yeah, you can hug me.”

And so my sister hugged Keanu Reeves…in the middle of a bar in Soho.

In all the celebs that I have run into, I have never talked to one and I have certainly never asked to hug one. And to be honest, I don’t know if I would recommend that anyone else try this! But I think it is pretty rad that my sis did… and best, that she got a yes!