Keanu Reeves won’t comment on beard, fans dismayed by facial hair

We’re sure Keanu Reeves’s new film The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is great, but we were distracted throughout its press conference yesterday by his long scraggly hair and beard reminiscent of a Queer Eye candidate. Or a homeless person. A homeless person who makes millions of dollars.

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that question until I speak to my people,” he said in response to whether he put much thought into his festival facial hair.

Later that evening, we waited for Reeves and co-star Robin Wright Penn to walk the red carpet at Roy Thomson Hall for the gala premiere of the film. “I hope he’s clean shaven,” said one fan. She remained optimistic after we reported our beard sighting. “Maybe he’ll shave on the way here.”

But the one-time Torontonian showed up without any evidence of coming into contact with a Mach3. He also wore the same suit black suit, black T-shirt and hiking boots from the press conference. It was a complete contrast to Wright Penn, who arrived in a smoking leather-like strapless dress with strappy stilettos. For a second, we thought she was a 20-something starlet (Blake Lively, who plays a young Pippa Lee, was rumoured to show) until she turned toward us. The actors posed for a few photos together, making it the weirdest pairing we’ve seen on the red carpet so far.