Keanu Reeves on "The Gift," Playing an Abuser & Peter O'Toole's Advice on Risk (2001)

We take a look at the past to shape our future. In 2001, Keanu Reeves discussed "The Gift," why he researched spousal abuse to play Donnie Barksdale, and how Peter O'Toole's disastrous Macbeth taught him to embrace risk. On researching abuse: "I met with people who deal with spousal abuse in Savannah. I found out the abuser is oftentimes abused physically and emotionally as a child. They lose a voice, they can't express themselves, so they inflict violence on their spouse instead." On Sam Raimi's improvisation: "We had a wonderful improvisation trying to find the relationship. Sam said, every time you say she's lying, hit her. That's where we learned what goes on there." On Peter O'Toole: "When I saw The Ruling Class, there was such joy in his acting. I wanted to be able to do that. His Macbeth was called an insult to Shakespeare, to the theater, to the audience. But his whole sense is: go up there and do it the way you want." On knowing early: "I knew I wanted to act at 16 while all my friends were figuring out what they wanted to be. Maybe 1% of the population gets to do what they love. The test is not whether you get to do it, it's how good you can be." GUEST: Keanu Reeves, Actor Interview from 2001 0:00 Introduction 1:03 Cast of The Gift 1:56 Playing Donnie Barksdale, "a good husband" 2:52 Researching spousal abuse in Savannah 4:12 Sam Raimi's improvisation exercise 5:32 Clip from The Gift 7:11 Music versus acting rumors 22:39 Teachers who shaped him 23:32 No father figure growing up 24:40 Knowing at 16 what he wanted 25:39 Wanting to play Macbeth 26:05 Peter O'Toole's influence 27:08 O'Toole's catastrophic Macbeth 28:00 "Do it the way you want to do it" 28:22 Dueling Hamlets: Burton and O'Toole 29:32 Gielgud's table read story 30:07 Olivier's mysterious brilliance This interview captures an actor explaining why researching real pain and embracing catastrophic risk both matter to great acting. History offers the clearest roadmap for our future. #KeanuReeves #TheGift #SamRaimi #PeterOToole #2001Interview #CharlieRose #FilmDiscussion #LookingBack