Rosie O’Donnell name-dropped Keanu Reeves as “one of [her] worst” talk show guests.
While the former “Rosie O’Donnell Show” host insisted she didn’t mean to throw the A-list actor “under the bus” during her “Sam Pang Tonight” appearance on Monday evening, she explained why Reeves is “not good” at on-air interviews.
“I love the guy,” the 63-year-old clarified, referring to their 1997 interview. “He’s so sweet, he looks gorgeous, I love all his movies, but he would not answer a question.”
“I’d say, ‘So, Keanu, how’s it going? How are you feeling?’ [He’d respond] ‘Good.’ We were live. We couldn’t re-tape,” O’Donnell recalled.
“I finally said after three minutes, ‘You know, Keanu, it is a talk show. You have to talk.’”
Despite her frustration, O’Donnell emphasized that Reeves, now 61, is “a lovely man and a good-hearted guy,” and revealed that the John Wick star returned to her show in 2001. “So he got the hang of it,” the Emmy winner joked.
During Reeves’ first appearance on her show, O’Donnell even called him out for not opening up. When he laughed at one of her questions, she quipped, “Sorry, but you know it’s a talk show. We’ve got to ask questions.”
She then asked him, “You don’t do a lot of these shows, do you? Do you hate them?”
“I’m not comfortable with them, but they’re fun. It’s alright,” Reeves replied, prompting O’Donnell to offer him a snack or a toy to ease the tension.
Viewers on YouTube praised O’Donnell for helping the “introverted” star relax during the rest of the 10-minute interview.
One person wrote, “I like how she changed her strategy after realizing Keanu was uncomfortable being asked that much.”
Reeves’ rep has yet to respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
In addition to calling out Reeves, O’Donnell named Martin Short as the “best” guest on her show, which ran from 1996 to 2002.
She also gushed that Barbra Streisand was her “favorite” guest of all time.
