What's that old saying, Ask a stupid person, get a stupid answer? No, that's not it. Um, Ask not what your...uh, whatever. Look, just be careful what you ask when you're dealing with Keanu Reeves, because you may not like--or frankly, understand--what the dude is talking about. In the February Vanity Fair, Reeves agrees The Matrix is the ultimate stoner movie. Which is not to say that pot smoking is one of Reeves' vices--mainly because we can't figure out what this guy considers a vice. "Something you really can't do without?" he asks. Well, that would make breathing a vice, but that's only true when you combine it with an obscene phone call. "Something I consider wrong?" he offers. Sorry, episodes of Blind Date don't count, either. Finally, he has his answer. "I don't have one," he says, puffing on a Marlboro. "Or I just don't relate to them as vices."

Jan. 9

Talking with glossy mag Vanity Fair, Keanu Reeves admits to using, and vastly enjoying, recreational drugs. We're shocked, truly shocked. Not!

Reeves does nothing to dispel his image as a laid-back kind of dude by saying in the February issue of the magazine, "I've had wonderful experiences [with drugs]. I mean, really wonderful. In teaching. Personal epiphanies. About life. About a different perspective ? help with different perspectives that you have. You know what I mean? Relationships to nature. Relationships with the self. With other people. With events." Although Reeves has achieved box-office fame as pumped-up action dudes in Speed and The Matrix, his surfer-dude persona (showcased in Point Break and the Bill & Ted movies) is still very much intact.

The 36-year-old actor says he has had to work hard to dispel his reputation as a drug user, saying, "… I did some things that I wouldn't have normally done if I didn't have to, like a Japanese commercial to pay the rent or [the Rebel Without a Cause-themed video "Rush, Rush"] with Paula Abdul."

Although we begrudge Keanu none of his dudeness, we can't help but note the poor timing of his remarks in conjunction with another magazine article on his late co-star and friend River Phoenix.

In the January issue of Movieline, director Peter Bogdanovich eulogizes Phoenix, one of his generation's most gifted actors, who starred memorably with Reeves in Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho. Phoenix died of a drug overdose on Halloween 1993.

Copyright 2001 Mr. Showbiz. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) - Keanu Reeves doesn't mind talking about using drugs. In the February issue of Vanity Fair magazine, on newsstands in New York Wednesday and nationwide Jan. 16, the actor says he had a reputation for doing drugs for ``a certain half a year.''

Asked whether that reputation was deserved, he replies, ``Well, to a certain extent. I had to work in order to kind of dispel that. So I did some things that I wouldn't have normally done if I didn't have to, like a Japanese commercial to pay the rent or a video with Paula Abdul.''

Reeves, 36, says, ``I've had wonderful experiences. I mean really wonderful. In teaching. Personal epiphanies. About life. About a different perspective - help with different perspectives that you have. You know what I mean? Relationships to nature. Relationships with the self. With other people. With events.''

In his latest movie, Sam Raimi's ``The Gift,'' Reeves plays an abusive husband. Next month, he stars in ``Sweet November'' with Charlize Theron.

Actor Keanu Reeves Credits Drugs with 'Epiphanies'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hollywood stars are often presumed to indulge in recreational drug use, but rare is the actor who freely admits it -- except, perhaps, under threat of imprisonment.

But in the February issue of Vanity Fair, released on Monday, Keanu Reeves says he has ``had wonderful experiences'' with drugs, adding, ``I mean REALLY wonderful.''

Without going into detail about which drugs he has used and to what extent, Reeves, who has starred in such blockbusters as ''Speed'' and ``The Matrix'' describes his ``wonderful experiences'': ''In teaching. Personal epiphanies. About life. About a different perspective.''

He admits, however, that having a reputation as a druggie earlier in his career was a bit of a problem. ``To kind of dispel that ... I did some things that I wouldn't have normally done if I didn't have to,'' he says.

He is not talking about making anti-drug public service announcements. ``Like a Japanese commercial to pay the rent or a video with Paula Abdul,'' he explains.

Reeves -- 36, single and described as a loner by friends quoted in the magazine -- says little about his personal life other than: ``I'm looking. I haven't been in a relationship for like five years now. ... It was so hard the last time. ... It was just like 'Aggh! God, forget all that, man, let's just be friends.''

Reeves has sometimes evaded interviewers' questions about his sexuality and was the subject of a 1995 rumor that he had ''married'' David Geffen, the music and film studio mogul. But Vanity Fair says ``for the record ... he likes women'' and calls the rumor ``rubbish.''

The actor, who has three forthcoming films, denies he has any vices, although that seems to be a matter of perception. ``I just don't relate to them as vices. ... I don't consider smoking a vice,'' he says.

KEANU Reeves may be reluctant to talk about his drug use, but his pals aren't. "When we were much younger, we did a lot of drugs. Everyone did. Ecstasy and mushrooms - some crazy stuff. Keanu always had a big bag of pot," says one of his best friends, Josh Richman, in next month's Vanity Fair. Reeves, who claims to have no vices, admits only that the drug reputation - which he calls a rite of passage in the movie industry - was deserved "to a certain extent." He said he had to work to dispel it, "doing some things that I wouldn't have normally done if I didn't have to, like a Japanese commercial to pay the rent or a video with Paula Abdul." Something else Reeves says he hasn't done in a few years? A relationship. "It was so hard the last time . . . It was just like, 'Agggh! God, forget all that, man. Let's be friends.'" Still, the singer-actor said he's "gone out and stuff," and, yes, he's still searching for someone to settle down with. In the meantime, the 36-year-old has been keeping himself busy playing gigs with his former co-star, Alex Winter(They mistake him for Rob?), in his band Dogstar, and preparing for his role in upcoming sequels to "The Matrix." He'll also be appearing in three new pictures co-starring Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchett and Diane Lane.