Keanu Reeves has admitted that he thinks about death "all the time" especially now that he's getting older.
Reeves, hailed for being one of Hollywood's most down-to-earth celebrities, has opened up about his thoughts about life and death while promoting his first novel with the BBC.
The star, who is best known for his incredible acting skills in movies like The Matrix and John Wick, has now ventured into the world of publishing, writing his first book titled The Book of Elsewhere.
The star wrote the fiction novel alongside British science fiction author China Miéville who was also present during the interview as they both aimed to tell the story of an immortal warrior called 'B', who just wants to be able to die - that's why Reeves spends a lot of time pondering about his own mortality.
Speaking to the outlet, he said: "I'm 59, so I'm thinking about death all the time.
"Hopefully it's not crippling, but hopefully it's sensitized [us] to an appreciation of the breath we have and the relationships that we have the potential to have," he continued, before delving into the details of his latest book, which is based on the successful BRZRKR (pronounced "berserker") comic book series created by Reeves himself.
The animated series holds a special place in his heart.
"I love the images," he explained. "I love words and storytelling and I love the way that you can have this engagement that overlays. And so you can look at the art and then you can follow the story."
Elsewhere, when talking about the book, Reeves responded: "I didn't write a novel. China wrote a novel."
Miéville argued back, stating: "That's putting it too far," before going on to add: "It wouldn't exist in the form without a lot of very thoughtful and careful work with Keanu."
In the story, B, who is an 80,000-year-old half-mortal and half-God being, is known for his violent streak.
He is described as someone who can "punch through people's chests and rip their arms off, rip their heads off", according to Reeves.
"I think it was influenced by some of the action films that I had done," the actor said.
And with so much violence in the comic, as well as the world right now, Reeves hoped that no matter who reads his book, he would hope that it brings about entertainment and not inspiration.
"I hope if they read BRZRKR, that they don't go out and start ripping people's arms off and chopping their heads off," he said. "Because there's also a love story in it.
"But if you do read it, I hope maybe you can find love if you don't have it," he added.
Miéville also pushed back against there being a connection between depicted violence on screen compared to real violence.
"I get quite irritated about how this question is posed," he said.
He described it as "cultural scapegoating," adding: "I think the idea of looking at video games and movies and so on, it's just a way of exonerating the people who are really profiting from the violence."
The Book of Elsewhere was published on 23 July and is available to purchase now.
