Deepfake technology has come a long way in the last few years. It was impressive (if mildly creepy) how well it worked originally, but now it can be legitimately difficult to tell when you’re looking at a deepfake if it’s real or not. And it turns out that when it comes to one particular Keanu Reeves deepfake, it can be difficult to tell even if you know the truth.
The TikTok account Uureal_Keanu is a series of videos that appear to show Keanu Reeves doing fairly mundane things around the house, which, if it were real, would probably still get millions of views. The account is seeing millions of views, even though it isn’t actually Keanu Reeves, and while people technically know this, many people are still surprised, while others appear to be genuinely fooled.
@unreal_keanu (opens in new tab)
♬ original sound – Unreal Keanu Reeves (opens in new tab)
Comments on these videos run the gamut from those that can’t believe how much this guy looks like Keanu Reeves, despite knowing clearly that he’s not Keanu Reeves, and those that maybe think that despite “unreal” being in the username, this might be the real Keanu Reeves on TikTok…
Are you a look alike or the real Keanu??
For others it seems that, while they are sure this is not really Keanu, it was touch and go there for awhile. To be fair, this guy doesn’t just have the Keanu look, but he has a physical presence that you would totally buy as well. And Keanu’s been known to pull fun stunts for fans. The only reason to believe this might not be real is that it is, after all, the internet.
Okay, I’m finally convinced this is not the real Keanu. But it has humor & heart, so I absolutely enjoy it.
We’ve seen other pretty impressive deepfakes of celebrities like Tom Cruise before. That usually involve a person who is not without a facial similarity to the famous person in question. Then adding the tech on top to digitally transform a face into that of another. It’s basically the cheap and dirty version of what digital effects houses like ILM do when they need to digitally create Princess Leia or Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One. Still, this is actually better than a lot of that because it doesn’t need to digitally create everything.
I don’t understand how you’re not Keanu. Separated at birth? Lol. It’s just too uncanny.
But then, all this does lead to one interesting question. What if this isn’t a deepfake and it’s just Keanu Reeves screwing around by pretending to not actually be Keanu Reeves…
what if this is Keanu Reeves trying not be Keanu Reeves but trying to be Keanu Reeves?
Perhaps we’ll never really know for sure. But the real Keanu has a number of exciting projects coming down the line, including multiple John Wick projects.