Actress Helen Mirren 'flattered' by comparison with Keanu Reeves' girlfriend

Netizens have drawn comparions between actress Helen Mirren (left) and visual artist Alexandra Grant, who was seen with boyfriend Keanu Reeves. PHOTOS: AFP

Is Keanu Reeves dating Dame Helen Mirren?

That seems to be the first question on many people's minds when the star of The Matrix films (1999 to 2003) was seen with his girlfriend, visual artist Alexandra Grant, in Los Angeles last Saturday (Nov 2).

Netizens have been quick to spot the resemblance between the silver-haired Grant and Mirren, who won the Best Actress at the Oscars for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006).

Reeves, 55, has reportedly been dating Grant, 46, for about a year, and they have collaborated on two books - Ode To Happiness in 2011 and Shadows in 2016, with Reeves providing the text and Grant the illustrations. They started a publishing company, X Artists' Books, in 2017.

Mirren, 74, told Entertainment Tonight (ET) at the premiere of her new movie, The Good Liar, on Wednesday that she did not mind the comparisons between Grant and her.

"I saw that," she said. "That was very flattering on me, you know, because she's obviously lovely."

Mirren, who has been married to American director Taylor Hackford since 1997, said, "I do know Keanu very well. He did a film with my husband and he is just the most adorable, lovely person."

She was referring to the 1997 movie The Devil's Advocate, directed by Hackford and starring Reeves and Al Pacino.

"So she's a lucky girl and I'm sure that he's a lucky boy, " the English actress was quoted by ET as saying.

Reeves previously dated actress Jennifer Syme, who gave birth to their stillborn baby in 1999 and died in a traffic accident in 2001. The star of the John Wick movies (2014 to 2019) said in a recent interview with The Guardian that he channelled his experience of bereavement in playing John Wick, whose wife died at the start of the movies.

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