Keanu Reeves thinks about death more than he thinks about life.
“I’m 59, so I’m thinking about death all the time,” the Hollywood superstar told BBC News in an interview.
“Hopefully it’s not crippling, but hopefully it’s sensitised [us] to an appreciation of the breath we have, and the relationships that we have the potential to have,” the actor added.
The Matrix star’s discussion comes in relation to a new novel he is writing, The Book of Elsewhere, which is based on Reeves’ widely successful comic book series BRZRKR, pronounced “Berserker.”
“I love the images,” he said about comics. “I love words and storytelling and I love the way that you can have this engagement that overlays. And so you can look at the art and then you can follow the story.”
Reeves is writing the novel in collaboration with British science fiction author China Miéville, and it follows the story of an immortal warrior, who wants to be able to die.
“I didn’t write a novel. China wrote a novel,” the star said, humbling himself.
However, Miéville contests the statement and calls it “putting it too far,” adding, “It wouldn’t exist in the form without a lot of very thoughtful and careful work with Keanu.”