From the moment that Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant publicly debuted their relationship in 2019, the media and fans have had thoughts.
On one hand, fans are thrilled that Keanu has clearly found happiness. It's also a perk to many onlookers that while Alexandra's career is adjacent to Keanu's, she's not a high-profile celebrity who might be chasing headlines.
But on the other hand, the media has made a big deal of the fact that the couple doesn't follow the standard Hollywood age gap. It's staggering how many media outlets have suggested that Alexandra looks like Keanu's mom, or that her beauty is somehow diminished by outsiders' perceptions of her age.
For the record, Alexandra is 47, while Keanu is 56, which makes the media outcry even more troubling. In truth, their age gap is similar to that of Beyoné and Jay-Z, or Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, or even Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo.
The hubbub over their partnership is probably part of the reason why they didn't go public sooner. Because while multiple sources suggest that the couple began their romance in 2018, they've known each other for much longer -- and all signs point to there being more between them than fans realized.
Most Keanu fans remember all those "sad Keanu" memes that the actor would rather forget. But in 2011, he renewed fans' faith in his happiness by publishing a book. He's actually written two books, and the twist is that he and Alexandra were collaborators on both projects.
That may not be surprising to fans who know that Keanu and Alexandra met back in 2009. But since they've been close enough to write two books together -- more on that in a moment -- fans might be tempted to dive deeper into the couple's history.
Keanu's first book is titled 'Ode to Happiness,' and it features drawings by Alexandra. Good Reads' synopsis states that the book "externalizes a melancholy internal monologue and subtly pokes fun at it." Sounds about Reeves.
And Alexandra's illustrations illuminated Keanu's poetry in that book. But then in 2014, Grant published a book of photography, and guess who the subject was?
LA Times explained that Alexandra's book 'Shadows' features 54 photographs "based on the movement of Reeves, her longtime friend." Riiiiight. Anyway, Keanu penned a line or two of copy for each of the photographs, and then the pair of creatives spent time pairing the proofs "with Reeves' words until the combinations felt right."
Further, Keanu elaborated at an unveiling event that their intent was to "explore something personal and communicate something universal." Further, after their initial collaboration, Alexandra explained that "I knew where he was in his life, and ‘Shadows’ was a place where we could meet."
Sure, two creatives can get together and wind up with amazing art that has no romantic undertones at all. But is it really surprising that Alexandra and Keanu wound up together, and is it assuming too much to think that they might have been together all along?