TIFF Party: Keanu Reeves pounds beers and chain-smokes at the after-party for Man of Tai Chi

TIFF Party: Keanu Reeves pounds beers and chain-smokes at the after-party for Man of Tai Chi

TIFF Party: Man of Tai Chi
(Image: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Down a King West alleyway, not far from Susan Sarandon’s ping pong club Spin, Keanu Reeves ambled into the Virgin-hosted after-party for Man of Tai Chi, his directorial debut. Scruffy, somber and decked in head-to-toe black (as was his sidekick, co-star Tiger Hu Chen), the Speed star treated partygoers to a brief warrior stance and a pair of rock-on horns. (Weird, we didn’t think people did that anymore.) The rest of the night was spent chain-smoking and knocking back beers—which, we were told, is “kind of what Keanu does when he’s in Toronto—promotes his film, is chill, and likes to smoke and drink all night. Like a dude.” Meanwhile, co-star Hu Chen politely excused himself from a press of buxom beauties in favour of a comfy chair. A shy guy who does his own stunts? Welcome to the softer side of TIFF.