Keanu Reeves hams it up in Bakersfield after flight from SFO makes unexpected landing – SFGate

By Michelle Robertson, SFGATE

Updated

8:09 pm PDT, Monday, March 25, 2019

On Saturday, actor Keanu Reeves returned to his “Speed” days. He boarded a bus with fellow travelers stranded in the Central Valley after their flight made an unexpected landing.

Reeves was one of dozens of passengers on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Burbank, California, that had to make an emergency landing in Bakersfield.

The actor’s chivalry started even before the unexpected landing:

“He was very pleasant. Took photos, talked about latest project w/ 2 very enthusiastic airline employees. We bonded – He sat two rows up. I fell asleep,” wrote Brian Rea on social media. Rea, who illustrates the popular New York Times’ “Modern Love” column, chronicled the voyage in a series of Instagram Stories.

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When the plane pulled up to the Bakersfield airport, Reeves — regular dude that he is — disembarked like the rest of the passengers and hung around the dinky airport awaiting further instruction from the airline.

Further instruction turned out to be filing onto a bus, which would carry the tired travelers from Bakersfield to Burbank, a one-and-a-half hour drive.

“We might be riding a bus w/ Keanu…He chose to stay around and wait,” Rea wrote in his impromptu travel diary.

That is exactly what happened — and then some. According to social media reports, Reeves jokingly read aloud facts about Bakersfield, and then played some country music native to the city. He even disembarked at Carl’s Jr. for a mid-ride snack.

One hundred miles later, the bus carrying Keanu arrived at its final destination.

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“There no dramatic goodbyes,” Rea reported, “though there was a brief laughable pause where we didn’t know how it should end. So we simply shook hands and [said] a ‘good meeting + ride with you.’ Then we went separate ways.”

“And sometimes,” Rea continued, “that’s how life is.”

This isn’t the first time Reeves has gone out of his way for Bay Area fans. In 2018, the actor congenially took a photo with a newly married couple at a bar in Santa Cruz. 

Read Michelle Robertson’s latest stories and send her news tips at michelle.robertson@sfgate.com. 

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