During an appearance on the Piers Morgan Show, actor Brian Blessed talked about his encounter with Keanu Reeves during the shooting of Much Ado About Nothing. Piers Morgan asked him about teaching Keanu how to meditate. Mr. Blessed has a personality that is bigger than life and ended up recalling one of his encounters with Keanu.
I started hopping through the clip looking for the Keanu mention but was so taken with Mr. Blessed that I ended up watching the whole thing. The Keanu mention starts at the 27:29 min mark and runs through 28:44 min.
In an interview for i-D Magazine, Keanu was asked about Brain Blessed:
While you were filming Much Ado About Nothing in Italy, you met the actor Brian Blessed, and he helped you out with preparing for The Little Buddha.
There was something about Brian Blessed which made me think that he meditated. He’s an actor, he climbed Everest, and there was just something about him that made me want to ask him about the dharma (truth). So I asked him if he would spend some time with me, teach me about meditation. I had to prove to him that I wanted to learn. He taught me a basic, very simple meditation. It was my first introduction to many other experiences, to a magnetism that draws you. Throughout the three months that I’ve been involved I’ve had many examples of running into Buddhists out of thin air. Driving to Florence to meet my sister and picking up a hitch-hiker and me just asking out of the blue ‘are you Buddhist?’ And yes, he was. It’s occurred many times. Sometimes I’ve had moments when it’s been a little maddening — like, leave me alone! Man, these fucking guys! There’s a power about them, things get taken care of for them without them asking for it. Higher energies, I guess.
Ref: Hamel, S., Keanu Achieves Nirvana, i-D Magazine (UK), April 1993
Note: This evening, when I am home, I will extract the pertinent Keanu content.
Excerpt: