Keanu Reeves is an amazing actor and producer with several popular film franchises like the Matrix, Bill & Ted, and John Wick under his belt. While not all, most of Keanu’s films involve a ton of savant action scenes.
Keanu Reeves uses his right hand for using guns on screen, and his left one for signing autographs. He is neither right nor left-handed and is instead mixed-handed.
Keanu’s Experience with Being Mixed Handed
Keanu Reeves is an amazing actor who has worked in several films which include works of comedy and action. His first action film was Point Break in 1991 and was the film that would give a new turn to his career. A few years later, his action film Speed also made headlines as a big hit.
Soon after came The Matrix which gave Keanu one of his most iconic characters ever – Neo. The only character that comes close to the popularity of Neo is perhaps John Wick – the kindhearted mercenary. The thing that all of Keanu’s action characters have in common is the fact that they use guns with the right hand.
This gives fans the impression that Keanu is right-handed, which would be a fair assumption to make considering less than 10% of humans are left-handed. However, fans who have known him for longer clearly know that Keanu signs autographs with his left hand.
Being right- or left-handed says a lot about a person such as left-handed people are more effective at creative tasks than logical ones. This makes fans even more curious about the breathtaking superstar.
The truth is that Keanu uses his left hand for actions that require more dexterity like writing with his left hand. At the same time, he utilizes his right hand for difficult or strength demanding actions like shooting a gun. While it would again be a safe assumption to call him ambidextrous, this is not the case with Reeves as he is mixed-handed.
What Does it Mean to be Mixed Handed?
While ambidexterity means the ability to use both hands for the same tasks, being mixed-handed instead refers to the ability to swap the dominant hand while performing different tasks. This is also sometimes called cross-dominance.
Mixed handedness also has a great impact on the way a person thinks before performing an action. People who are either fully or partially left-handed, have a greater link between the two halves of the brain. This means that being mixed-handed does not only make Keanu more unique but also much smarter.
Keanu’s Experience with Guns
It may be quite surprising to any John Wick fan that Keanu Reeves is in fact, not a natural when it comes to using guns. He had to learn how to use them. During his practice, it is not known why but he preferred using his right hand for controlling firearms.
This is probably thanks to other muscle-demanding tasks that Reeves would have carried out in the past with his right hand.
Controlling a gun properly requires one to be completely in control of the firearm and have a firm grip on it. On the other hand, actions such as writing are not as demanding of one’s muscles.
Keanu has used his right hand for another complex task in the past and only some of his most dedicated fans would know about it at the tip of their tongue. He played the bass in his band Dogstar with his right hand. This is probably the action that made him comfortable with using his right hand for guns.
Playing Bass for Dogstar
The alternative grunge group Dogstar was made up of Keanu and three of his friends. The band was active throughout the ’90s.
Reeves has often expressed that he felt bad about the others in the band as they became famous as the ‘guys in Keanu Reeve’s band’, but he mentions that it would’ve been different if the band performed better.
The fact that he was a part of a rock band even before the game Cyberpunk 2077 makes us love Keanu even more. The interesting thing here is that Keanu played the bass for Dogstar with his right hand instead of his left one.
