The majority of data shows that around 10% of people in the world are left-handed. Although in his films he shoots with his right whilst off-screen Keanu Reeves appears to be dominantly left-handed.
Keanu Reeves is, in fact, ambidextrous. This means that he is neither left nor right handed but rather uses both hands equally for different tasks. For example, Reeves can be seen scribbling his signature with his left whilst playing instruments and shooting guns with his right.
Read more below about Reeve’s multi-handed talents and find out if left-handed actors are common than you think.
Being Mixed Handed
Keanu Reeves is mostly thought to be left-handed. However, confusion came when eagle-eyed fans began noticing that in some of his films, and when playing for his band Dogstar, Keanu was using his right hand whereas if signing something the actor would use his left.
Keanu can be seen below at the TCL Chinese Theatre, Loss Angeles “Hand and Footprint Ceremony” for John Wick 3 (2019) using his left hand to write his signature.
In addition to this, CBS news has pictured Reeves signing the hood of an Acura at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival with his left hand.
However, in both The Matrix and the John Wick series you can see Reeves using his right hand to shoot a gun. In fact, if you watch closely you’ll see that in most of his films Keanu only uses his left hand when writing, and performs more difficult actions with his right. For example, reports Collider, “when the courier arrives to deliver John Wick’s new puppy, he signs the delivery receipt with his left hand” whilst “he fires all of his weapons right-handed.”
This means that Keanu is seen as something of an anomaly, although not as rare as ambidexterity, mixed-handedness is very uncommon and is said to affect around 9% of people. To be clear, mixed-handedness, or cross-dominance, is the swapping of the dominant hand when approaching different tasks. For example, someone might hold a knife (without a fork) in their left hand but when playing baseball throw a ball with their right. Mixed-handedness is also thought to impact the way a person thinks. Left-handed, or partially left-handed people are scientifically proven to have stronger linkages between the two halves of the brain. So, not only is Reeves especially unique, but his multi-handedness might also be making him smarter!
Playing Bass in Dogstar
Another interesting quirk you may not have known about Keanu Reeves is that he used to be the bassist for a rock band called Dogstar. What’s more is that he has always played the bass right-handedly.
Alternative grunge group Dogstar was formed of Keanu Reeves and three others and was active throughout most of the ‘90s. Reeves has said that he felt bad for the other members of the band who became known as the guys in that actor’s band, although, “I guess it would have helped if our band was better,” he tells GQ magazine.
In the YouTube clip below you’ll see that Keanu plays bass with his right hand (and that he’s not a bad singer, but that’s beside the point…)
Other Famous Actors Who Are Left-Handed
Perhaps more famous actors than you think are left-handed. Angelia Jolie, Jim Carrey, Robert De Niro – all left-handed. In addition to this, although many of these actors are said to be left-handed they can be seen in their films playing right-handed characters, much the same as Keanu. For example, Tom Cruise is left-handed but had to be right handed in War of the Worlds, and Julia Roberts plays a right-handed Erin in Erin Brockovich.
To conclude, it doesn’t seem as though Keanu Reeves is strictly left-handed; you can see the actor using his right hand for tasks in multiple films and holding a bass guitar in his right whilst performing on stage. However, the actor has also been seen on numerous occasions signing things with his left, meaning that we can only assume that he is mixed-handed.