Matthew Perry asks why ‘Keanu Reeves still walks among us’ when Heath Ledger and River Phoenix are dead

 

 

Matthew Perry questions why Keanu Reeves is still alive.

 

In his upcoming novel Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, the actor, 53, pokes fun at Reeves, 58. Perry addresses the John Wick actor several times in the book, particularly while reflecting on the deaths of venerable performers like Heath Ledger, Chris Farley, and River Phoenix, according to excerpts made available by Variety.

 

“The list of geniuses who were ahead of their time is too long to detail here—suffice to say, near the top of any such list should be my costar in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, River Phoenix,” Perry wrote. “This movie was my first job, and I’m acutely aware it would be a better story if the movie was a huge hit, but all that really matters is that I learned how to make a film, and I got to know River, who personified beauty in every way.”

 

Only five years had passed since the debut of A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon when Phoenix passed away in 1993. The actor’s cause of death was given as “acute multiple drug intoxication” in an autopsy report. He was age of 23.

 

“River was a beautiful man, inside and out—too beautiful for this world, it turned out,” Perry continued. “It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us? River was a better actor than me; I was funnier. But I certainly held my own in our scenes—no small feat, when I look back decades later.”

 

Perry’s targeting of Reeves was surprising because the two had never collaborated on any projects or made any indication that they have a beef. He did indeed apologize after the news spread, claiming that the name-check was random.

 

In a statement to Deadline, he wrote, “I’m actually a big fan of Keanu. I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”