Keanu Reeves viral airport encounter with young fan a lesson to all travellers

Keanu Reeves gives a masterclass in airport cool while waiting for luggage. Photo / Getty Images, Marc Piasecki

Among the travel chaos of the long weekend in the US there was one airport exchange that has melted the heart of even the most jaded of passengers.

At the luggage claim of New York City airport, Keanu Reeves was accosted by a young film fan, and the superstar was remarkably cool about it.

Travelling on July 4, and the busiest weekend for airports, the boy asked a torrent of questions that would have worn on the nerves of even the freshest traveller.
Captured by TV producer Andrew Kimmel, he shared the exchange to twitter.

"Keanu Reeves was on my flight from London to NYC today. A young boy asked for an autograph at baggage & then began to fire off a series of rapid-fire questions. Keanu happily responded to every single one," tweeted Kimmel.

The precocious child hit him with a fire torrent of questions:

"Why were you in London?"..."Do you live in New York?"..."How long are you staying?"..."Which Broadway show are you going to?"

Keanu responded to every one, with the patience of a saint (a prerequisite for collecting luggage from JFK).

Kid: Why were you in London?

KR: Filming a documentary.

Kid: I saw online you were at the Grand Prix (pronouncing the x)

KR: Yes, the Grand Prix (in a French accent, without correcting him). F1! Race cars!

Kid: Do you drive?

KR: Not F1, but I like riding motorcycles.

— Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) July 4, 2022

"I saw online you were at the Grand Prix" said the child, pronouncing the x.

"Yes, the Grand Prix," replied Reeves, not missing a beat. "F1!"

"Do you drive?"

"Not F1, but I like riding motorcycles," the star responded, not drawing attention to his Arch motorcycle hat.

By this point the boy began running out of questions, so Keanu took the initiative. He started grilling the kid about his holidays:

"Why were you in Europe? What galleries did you go to in Paris? What was your favourite?"

Kimmel, who had been a fly on the wall for the exchange, was so impressed by the good-naturedness of the movie star he felt he had to share the moment.

"The man could not have been nicer, especially after an international flight," Kimmel tweeted. "I thought I'd share this because the dude is a class act and little moments like this can make such a big difference in people's lives."

Adding to the evidence of the actor's superhuman tolerance, Reeves agreed to a selfie with Kimmel, which he added to the twitter thread.

And yes, I geeked out a little and asked for a photo. I mean… had to. Have a happy 4th everyone! pic.twitter.com/JVR5VTPQHz

— Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) July 4, 2022

"I mean… had to. Have a happy 4th everyone!" said Kimmel. "We need more Keanus!"

While disruption eased slightly towards Monday US airports saw over 2,200 cancellations and 23,000 delays as the network struggled under a post-pandemic record high of 2.4 million travellers.

While tolerance was wearing thin, particularly on the East Coast, the actor's kind exchange was a lesson to all.

"

"