PLAYING a swashbuckling stuntman, Keanu Reeves steals the show in the new instalment of Toy Story.

His swaggering motorcyclist, Duke Caboom, is set to delight movie-goers — but under the cocky facade, the toy is plagued by doubts.

Keanu Reeves stars as Duke Caboom, a swaggering motorcyclist, in the latest installment of Toy StoryCredit: EPA

In order to succeed, Caboom is forced to “confront his fear of failure”.

So perhaps there is nobody more suited to the role than Keanu, who is all too used to battling adversity. The hard-working actor, 54, has endured a life of tragedy and heartache.

The son of an absent father who ended up behind bars, Keanu’s life has been rocked by shocking deaths and illness.

His only child, Ava, was stillborn and his partner, Jennifer Syme, later died in a freak accident aged 28.

Keanu Reeves was born in 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon

He said in 2006, five years after Jennifer’s death: “Grief changes shape but it never ends. People have a ­misconception that you can deal with it and say, ‘It’s gone, and I’m better’.

“They’re wrong. When the people you love are gone, you’re alone.”

Keanu has never married and, after enduring repeated heartache, cuts a forlorn figure in ­Hollywood.

He said recently: “You know, I’m the lonely guy. I don’t have anyone in my life. But if it does occur, I would respect and love the other person — hopefully it’ll happen for me.”

Grief changes shape but it never ends. People have a ­misconception that you can deal with it

While he briefly dated his Speed co-star Sandra Bullock, 54, and Lost In Translation writer and director Sofia Coppola, 48, the love of his life was Jennifer, a fellow actress.

The pair met in 1998 at a promotional party for his alt-rock band Dogstar and “instantly fell in love”.

On Christmas Eve 1999, their daughter Ava Archer Syme-Reeves was stillborn. Under the strain of grief, the couple’s relationship collapsed within weeks.

It was two years after the ­heartbreak of losing baby Ava that Jennifer attended a party hosted by goth rocker Marilyn Manson.

I’ve always loved you, River. River is my best friend and I don’t have many of them

Though she was given a lift home from the Hollywood bash, she allegedly drove her Jeep back to the party while drunk and crashed into a row of parked cars. She was thrown from the front seat and died instantly.

Keanu was said to have found it “very, very difficult to cope with her death” and harnessed his grief as the troubled title character in John Wick, who lost his wife in the 2014 film.

He said: “I thought it was one of the foundations of the role. I love his grief. For the character and in life, it’s about the love of the person you’re grieving for. Any time you can keep company with that fire, it is warm.

“I relate to that, and I don’t think you ever work through it. Grief and loss don’t ever go away.”

Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix starred together in the 1991 movie My Own Private Idaho

Both have been constants in Keanu’s life. Best friend and actor River ­Phoenix died in October 1993.

The Stand By Me star, 23, collapsed outside Hollywood music venue The Viper Room after ­taking a “Speedball” — a combination of ­morphine and cocaine.

Phoenix said Keanu was “like my older brother. But shorter”.

In a joint interview, Keanu told him: “I’ve always loved you, River. River is my best friend and I don’t have many of them.”

In 1999 Reeves’ girlfriend, Jennifer Syme, gave birth eight months into her pregnancy to Ava Archer Syme-Reeves, who was stillbornCredit: All Action

Keanu, who was 23 at the time, was filming blockbuster Speed with ­Sandra when River died.

Sandra said: “I think Keanu has gone through a lot even though he doesn’t let on. He hides a great pain.”

Asked about River, Keanu added: “How was I affected? How was I affected?

“Uh, what do I say? I was terribly, terribly, terribly sad. Incredibly sad. And, um, I miss him very much.”

Keani Reeves pictured with his two sisters Korraine and Kim at The Matrix premiereCredit: Alpha Press

Dealt blow after blow, Keanu had previously learned that his younger sister Kim had leukaemia.

He became her main carer in the early Nineties during her decade-long battle, helping to nurse her back to health.

Keanu said: “She was always there for me, you know. I will always be here for her.”

The siblings were born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Patricia Taylor — a showgirl and costume designer — and geologist Samuel Reeves.

Reeves’ father Samuel suffered with drug addiction and walked out on the family when Keanu was just threeCredit: Wenn

When Keanu was three, Samuel walked out on the family.

Patricia, originally from Essex, constantly moved house with her kids during their childhoods, raising them in Hawaii, Australia and New York before finally settling in Canada. But Keanu’s relationship with his dad caused him significant pain over the years.

In 1994, Samuel was arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin and sentenced to ten years in jail.

When asked about their relationship, Keanu said: “The story with me and my dad’s pretty heavy. It’s full of pain and woe and f***ing loss and all that s**t.”

The story with me and my dad’s pretty heavy. It’s full of pain and woe

He was 13 when he last saw his father. Samuel tried to get back in touch in the mid-Nineties, at the height of Keanu’s fame, but the star “didn’t reach back out”.

Keanu’s first acting job came on the Canadian series Hangin’ In in 1984. Then he moved to LA and made his big-screen debut in 1986 drama Youngblood, opposite Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze.

His career reached new heights after appearing with Winona Ryder in Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992, and the action movie Speed in 1994.

Then things went stratospheric when he was cast in The Matrix five years later.

Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves pictured together in 2018Credit: Getty – Contributor

But stardom did not seem to change Keanu, who is considered the nicest man in Hollywood.

He reportedly gave the ancillary profits from The Matrix — including money made from streaming and airline plays — to the film’s crew, netting them £26million.

He said later: “I would rather people didn’t know that. It was something I could afford, a worthwhile thing.”

In 1997, he was pictured sharing drinks and snacks with a homeless man, and once came to the rescue of The Help star Octavia Spencer when her car broke down in LA.

Keanu Reeves voices Duke Caboom in Toy Story 4

She said: “No one would help me. It wasn’t until Keanu Reeves came by. He was on a motor- cycle, wearing his helmet and sunglasses and I didn’t recognise him.”

In March, a flight he was on made an emergency landing in Bakersfield, California. Keanu organised a bus for the stranded passengers to get to LA, 100 miles away.

Those who work with him have only positive things to say, too. Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley was blown away by the star’s attitude.

He asked to meet for lunch to discuss Duke Caboom and started “embodying the character to the point where he was posing and jumping up on a table”.

Josh added: “He would ask these really deep character questions, and you couldn’t ignore them.”

Keanu wanted to know what drives Duke Caboom? What is the toy afraid of? But perhaps he could turn the questions on himself.

After so many years of personal tragedy, surely there is nothing Keanu cannot handle.