Keanu Reeves once bought an ice cream cone for the sole purpose of signing the receipt for a fan. The actor then threw the sweet treat into the trash.
James Dator recounted his 2001 encounter with the “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” star while working at a theater in Sydney, Australia, in a Twitter thread that’s now gone viral.
Dator, who writes for sports blogging network SB Nation, explained how, when he was 16, he unsuccessfully tried to trick Reeves into giving him an autograph. Reeves figured out what Dator wanted, however, and pulled the ice cream cone-buying trick to make the teen’s day.
Check out the full thread here:
In honor of John Wick 3 I have a Keanu Reeves story.
— James Dator (@James_Dator) May 17, 2019
Keanu came to the movie theater I worked at in Sydney in 2001. He was working on the Matrix series at the time. It’s a quiet, Wednesday morning — almost nobody is seeing movies.
— James Dator (@James_Dator) May 17, 2019
I’m working the box office, bored as hell and suddenly this dude walks up in jeans, a leather jacket and a horse riding helmet. A full ass, weird equestrian looking helmet. It takes me a solid 30 seconds to ignore the helmet and realize it’s Keanu Reeves
— James Dator (@James_Dator) May 17, 2019
He wants to buy a ticket for “From Hell,” the Johnny Depp movie. I’m so fucking star struck I do what any sensible 16-year-old does and tell him I’d like to give him my employee discount. This means he needs to sign my sheet and therefore I have his autograph
— James Dator (@James_Dator) May 17, 2019
“I don’t work here,” Keanu says. Seemingly confused by my offer. I’m flustered and just charge him the normal price. Kicking myself after for not getting his autograph
— James Dator (@James_Dator) May 17, 2019
2 minutes later there’s a knock on the door behind me that leads into the box office. I assume it’s my manager. It’s Keanu.
— James Dator (@James_Dator) May 17, 2019
“I realized you probably wanted my autograph,” he says. “So I signed this.” He hands me a receipt from the concessions stand that he signed on the back. He then casually throws an ice cream cone in the trash can and sees his movie
— James Dator (@James_Dator) May 17, 2019
I realize later that he bought an ice cream cone he didn’t want, just to get receipt paper so he could scribble his autograph for a 16-year-old idiot.
— James Dator (@James_Dator) May 17, 2019
And the heartwarming responses here:
I love that. What does it cost to remain a real, decent human? Not much.... maybe some carbs.
— Michelle Finneran Dennedy (@mdennedy) May 18, 2019
And this is why Keanu is the bestest human alive. pic.twitter.com/OJpkYv0oXx
— Dingos Dog Haus 🐶🛁💖 (@DingosDogHaus) May 18, 2019
I’m just going to go ahead and cry about the sweetness of this
— Parisa Fitz-Henley (@ParisaFH) May 18, 2019
Keanu is a genuinely nice guy--and you literally have the receipts 😁🧾
— Leonardo Sumulong (@leowulv) May 18, 2019
Keanu 4ever. Saw this man sitting on a fire hydrant in NYC. A fucking fire hydrant. & he looked cool doing it. Mustered the courage to speak to him as he’s getting up & he was the nicest guy on the planet. Let me take 2 selfies because my hand was shaking too much the first time. pic.twitter.com/XvQKPix1cX
— chris harihar (@chrisharihar) May 18, 2019
That’s a great story
— Antwan V. Staley (@antwanstaley) May 17, 2019
Verified! I was there. We also had George Lucas come in when he was filming the prequels I believe the same year.
— Reapz316 (@Reapz316) May 18, 2019
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭there are so many of these keanu stories and i will never tire of hearing them!!!!
— Amanda Rosenberg (@AmandaRosenberg) May 17, 2019
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 what a great story!!!
— jonny sun (@jonnysun) May 18, 2019
There’s a cell phone video of Keanu floating around out there on the Toronto subway (where he is unaware of being filmed) and he notices how full the car is and offers his seat to a woman who was forced to stand.
— Matt Godbout (@Habitforming1) May 18, 2019
Someone will likely remember seeing this and post it.
Just met him on Wednesday.. dude was way chill pic.twitter.com/0yxYFKkGW4
— boaconstructor (@boaconstructor_) May 18, 2019
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