Not many celebrity fans can boast that their object of affection has played the founder of one of the world's major religions. At 29 years old, Keanu played 29 year old Prince Siddhartha, a 6th century B.C.E. Indian Prince who became Buddha. The film's director (who also wrote the story in which the screenplay was based), Bernardo Bertolucci searched four months in India to find an actor to play the lead role until he saw Keanu in MOPI and noted his Canadian-Hawaiian roots, as well his box-office appeal. He met with Keanu in a hotel in NYC's Central Park and was immediately taken with Keanu and his impression that he was "shy and not too articulate; he blushed a bit and occasionally burst into nervous laughter. He was adorable." Keanu flew to Tuscany to do "Much Ado", spoke with Bertolucci two more times in Rome, and got the job. His preparation for the role involved reading Buddhist texts and learning about transcendental meditation. He relied heavily on the film's technical advisor, Khyentse Rinpoche, whom he mentioned in several interviews. Although Keanu remarked that he had never been drawn to meditation, he was attracted to Buddhism's "disregard for impermanent material possessions" (biographer Sheila Johnston). He packed one suitcase of mostly books and flew to the Himalayan kingdoms of Bhutan (most of the filming took place in a monastery there) and Nepal. The two kingdoms were very different from one another. In Bhutan, conditions were very primitive with no cars, running water, television, and little electricity. The cast and crew stayed at a timber guest house one mile from the set. Most would take a bus back and forth, but Keanu liked to walk along the road between the two locations, followed by children and dogs, wearing his Buddhist garb and his Timberland boots. He seemed to enjoy his anonymity, but not his serious bout with symptoms of food poisoning, from poor sanitary conditions and a meal he remembered of "rice and potatoes." In Nepal, however, he was recognized ("Point Break") and was frequently surrounded by fans asking for autographs. Bertolucci said "he took their breath away."

Filming the life of a religious icon can be very difficult and filled with controversy. Bertolucci met with the Dalai Lama in 1991 in Vienna to deflect some criticism by getting his approval for the project. But there was still some resistance. There is a debate whether Siddhartha lived in Nepal or India, so filming in Nepal was met with a few demonstrations and stones thrown. The title of the film was changed on the set to "Little Lama" so as not to offend local Buddhists. The choice of Keanu to play Siddhartha was met with some snickering from the Western Press, with Keanu responding in an uncharacteristically defensive statement, "Surf-boy films are not all I've done." The criticism must have been pervasive because Keanu remarked "I had lots of people saying you can't play this part." In Kathmandu (East of Bhutan), local Buddhists inspected Keanu....literally. Keanu remembered "I was in my underwear parading back and forth in front of monks and lamas and all the monks were looking at my feet and hands, checking me out." He passed the inspection.

Keanu was impressed with Bertolucci, although he was shocked to learn one day before his first scene that the director wanted an accent (he developed one which combined "English-Indian-American" accents.) Although the director did not believe in storyboarding, he seemed to keep his cool despite the chaos on the set. Keanu remembered one time "the elephants were walking off the set, 500 extras couldn't get in their costumes, a horse was stepping on people...it was insane." I loved the story Keanu told on the Tonight Show about filming the scene with the water buffalo not knowing that sharpshooters were stationed nearby looking for crocodiles. Keanu thought he looked like "Cleopatra" when he left the palace for the first time.

Bertolucci thought Keanu was perfect for this scene because of his "extreme openness and perfect innocence." He did look beautiful.

"LB" cost $40 million to produce and failed at the box office. Its release was staggered to build word of mouth, starting in France on December 1st, 1993 and making its way country by country to the United States, where it opened May 20th, 1994, two weeks before "Speed." It eventually made $4.1 million in the U.S. with no Oscar nominations. It did get a "Razzie" nomination for one of its male stars, and it wasn't Keanu! (Chris Isaak for "worst new star"). It was re-edited for its U.S. release with 18 minutes deleted (just like the famous Nixon Watergate tape). The original movie poster emphasized Bertolucci and the American little boy surrounded by Buddhist monks and the tag line "from the creator of The Last Emperor." Then "Speed" hit big, so the distributor, Miramax, changed the poster to Keanu front and center, bare-torsoed, and the tag line "KR, the summer's most explosive star in the season's most dazzling spectacle." Did anyone stop and think maybe, just maybe, "LB" wasn't a summer movie?

Critics liked Keanu's performance, but didn't like the contemporary storyline, which was filmed in Seattle on 35 mm film with a harsh blue light, making it appear dull (Keanu's scenes were filmed on 65 mm film with richer color and higher definition). I liked the telling of Siddhartha's story as a children's book. It felt less like a biography and more like a fable. I didn't like Chris Isaak or Bridget Fonda (who have recently been reunited on Showtime's "Chris Isaak Show" for four episodes). I was annoyed when she left her only child alone at the Buddhist temple in Seattle and went off to work after meeting the monks briefly, and I was equally annoyed with him when he left his only son to wander the streets of Nepal alone. Do these people read the newspapers?

After "LB" Keanu went in search of a new role and failed to get the lead in "The Scout" (it went to Brandon Frasier). SO he had to settle for the movie
"Speed." You know, that little movie about a bus?

The balcony is now open.