The truth about Keanu Reeves and his Asian roots

Every generation seemingly has to renew its love for Keanu, and then, shortly thereafter, rediscover that he has Asian ancestry.

The trigger for this latest eruption of awareness was, of course, Ali Wong and Randall Park’s Always Be My Maybe, in which Reeves appeared for the first time in an undeniably Asian American context, surrounded by an almost entirely Asian American cast.

It was less than two years ago, after all, that the decision to cast Henry Golding as the romantic lead of Crazy Rich Asians generated controversy among some who saw the biracial British-Malaysian as “insufficiently Asian” for the role.

But it didn’t fully erase the question at the heart of the controversy: Where do multiracial people fit in the evolving and complex architecture of Asian identity?

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