Keanu Reeves once bought an ice cream just to give his autograph to a 16-year-old

Every time Keanu Reeves' name is invoked on the internet, we are reminded of why he is universally hailed as a good guy. The "John Wick" star has time and again proved himself to be a kind and empathetic human being above all else and we've fallen just as much in love with his down-to-earth personality as his stellar acting skills. The numerous heartwarming stories about fans' memorable interactions with Reeves have become one of the most popular online content categories over the years, and today, we have one more to add to the ever-growing list.

Journalist James Dator took to Twitter to recount the time he crossed paths with the Canadian actor as a 16-year-old. "In honor of 'John Wick 3' I have a Keanu Reeves story," he began. "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. 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."

Dator admitted that it took him a whole 30 seconds to peel his eyes away from the unusual helmet and pay attention to the person holding it. Only then did he realize that the "dude" was none other than the incredible Keanu Reeves himself. Once it hit him, like any other fan, Dator was dazed by his presence. Reeves informed the then-teenager that he was there to watch "From Hell," a movie starring Johnny Depp, which follows a psychic police detective investigating the murders committed by Jack the Ripper. "He wants to buy a ticket for 'From Hell,' the Johnny Depp movie. I'm so fu**ing star-struck I do what any sensible 16-year-old does and tell him I'd like to give him my employee discount," Dator tweeted.

However, aside from looking cool in front of the star, Dator also had an ulterior motive for being so generous. "This means he needs to sign my sheet and therefore I have his autograph," he explained. Unfortunately, Reeves being who he is, politely turned down the offer by pointing out that he didn't work at the movie theater and therefore couldn't rightfully avail the employee discount. "'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," Dator continued.

Fortunately, the teen's day was about to get better. "Two 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," he recounted. "'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." As the actor walked away, Dator noticed that he casually threw an ice cream cone in the trash can before going in to watch the movie.

On checking the receipt, he realized that Reeves bought the ice cream just so he could use the receipt to give his autograph to a young fan. "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," Dator tweeted. It turns out simple acts of kindness can leave surprisingly strong emotional impressions, not just on the person who receives them but also on everyone who hears about them.

A large systematic review from 2018 titled "Happy to Help" analyzed 27 separate studies and found that people who engage in small, everyday acts of kindness consistently report higher levels of happiness and emotional well-being. The review noted that these benefits appear across different types of prosocial acts, regardless of whether the gesture is planned, spontaneous, directed at strangers, or done anonymously. It also found that even small, low-cost acts produce meaningful psychological gains for the person offering the kindness.

As always, the internet loved the story about Reeves being the coolest guy alive. "GODDAMMIT I LOVE KEANU REEVES AND HIS EQUESTRIAN HELMET," tweeted Ashley Oh. "To this day I don't know if he thought it was a disguise, fashion, or if it was a next-level rouse to throw people off," Dator replied. We truly don't deserve this Canadian gem.

This article originally appeared 4 years ago.