WITH smiles beaming across their faces and hands clasped together, Keanu Reeves and artist Alexandra Grant went public with their romance in LA last night.
The Matrix star has played his relationship cards close to his chest for decades so this was a happy moment in a life that has seen more than its fair share of pain and suffering.
The couple met in 2009 — eight years after Keanu's ex-partner Jennifer Syme died in a car accident. Keanu and Jennifer had already suffered the stillbirth of baby Ava in 1999.
While the Hollywood actor has been blessed with the looks and talent which made him a box-office star in films such as Speed, The Matrix and Point Break, tragedy has plagued his personal life.
Keanu's dad walked out when he was just three, before being imprisoned for drug offences.
And over the course of his glittering film career, the Speed actor has seen loved ones and best friends die in horrific circumstances, including a drug overdose.
These trials haven't made the star bitter – quite the opposite.
Keanu is widely considered one of the nicest and most generous stars in Hollywood – and has been linked to big-name stars including Sandra Bullock, Amanda de Cadenet and Jill Schoelen.
And now the John Wick actor, 55, seems to have finally found happiness with 46-year-old visual artist Alexandra, who has illustrated a number of his poetry books.
The pair, who met at a dinner party a decade ago, looked the picture of happiness on the red carpet in Hollywood last night – and those close to them say they thrive on dark in-jokes.
'Inside jokes and knowing smiles'
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So happy to share the news that I'll be doing a solo show @lowellryanprojects opening June 1. Save the date! #borntolove ? by @manfredigioacchini.
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The pink #grantlove hoodies are in! Just trying to get one selfie with wind, hair flying, and the logo visible… and a little dancing. The hoodies are available at: www.grantlove.com and this weekend at the LA Art Book Fair (at the X Artists' Books booth). The @grantloveproject supports many arts non-profits in LA and beyond with awards made possible through the purchase of limited edition art works… and now, pink hoodies! ?
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Back in the late noughties, they bonded over Keanu's self-confessed "self-pity" poetry when Alexandra was given some of Keanu's words by a mutual friend in LA.
She then drew images to go with the words as a present for him, which would later become a book called Ode to Happiness, published in 2011.
"It was a surprise and a private gift," she said.
"We didn't make the book to publish it; it was a meant to put a big smile on our faces and make everyone laugh."
It was a success, leading to them make another one in 2016 called Shadows.
A journalist who interviewed them last year said: "In conversation, the two friends share an easy rapport and speak in a comfortable shorthand fuelled by inside jokes and knowing smiles."
Decade of tragedy
It's a happiness Keanu would have struggled to imagine 20 years earlier.
On Christmas Eve 1999, his daughter Ava Archer Syme-Reeves was stillborn eight months into Jennifer's pregnancy.
Ava's mother, Jennifer Syme, met Keanu at a 1998 promotional party for his alt-rock band Dogstar where they “instantly fell in love”.
But, crippled by the loss of their child, the young couple's relationship broke down just weeks after their bereavement.
Fatal crash
It was two years after the heartbreak of losing baby Ava that Jennifer attended a party hosted by goth rocker Marilyn Manson.
Though she was given a lift home from the Hollywood bash, she allegedly drove her Jeep back to the party while drunk and crashed into a row of parked cars.
Jennifer was thrown from the front seat and died instantly.
Keanu was said to have found it “very, very difficult to cope with her death” and harnessed his grief as the troubled title character in John Wick, who lost his wife in the 2014 film.
He 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."
Sister's 10-year cancer battle
Ava's stillbirth came after Keanu spent a decade helping his sister, Kim battle the life-threatening blood cancer, leukaemia.
Keanu became her main carer in the early 1990s helping to nurse her back to health while his acting career went stratospheric.
He said: “She was always there for me, you know. I will always be here for her.”
She recovered from her illness and Keanu has since set up a cancer charity, but chose not to attach his name to it.
Best friend death
Then in October 1993, his best friend and actor River Phoenix died at the age of 23.
The Stand By Me star collapsed outside Hollywood music venue The Viper Room after taking a “Speedball” — a combination of morphine and cocaine.
Phoenix said Keanu was “like my older brother. But shorter”.
In a joint interview, Keanu told him: “I’ve always loved you, River. River is my best friend and I don’t have many of them.”
Keanu, who was 23 at the time, was filming blockbuster Speed with Sandra Bullock when River died.
Sandra said: “I think Keanu has gone through a lot even though he doesn’t let on. He hides a great pain.”
Asked about River, Keanu added: “How was I affected? How was I affected?
“Uh, what do I say? I was terribly, terribly, terribly sad. Incredibly sad. And, um, I miss him very much.”
New love at last
Given all the loss he has experienced, Keanu's new-found happiness with Alexandra Grant is especially sweet.
As well as their book collaborations, they launched a publishing company, X Artists' Books, in 2017, aimed at publishing "unusual collaborations".
Although their appearance last night was the first public hint they are an item, the couple have previously appeared together at events, including the Saint Laurent Men's Spring Summer show in Malibu in June.
Their walk on the red carpet hand-in-hand is a complete change of tack for Keanu, who has previously kept his love life extremely private.
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Happy mother's day, Mom! Love you to the moon ?
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In 2017, he even told Esquire that he didn't think he would ever have a family after his tragic past.
He said: "I’m too… It’s too late. It’s over."
But with his newfound romance, it's look like the prospect of living happily ever after is now far from over.
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