Keanu makes a believable alien

You need someone to play Klaatu, the visiting alien in the remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Where do you turn?

Director Scott Derrickson turned to Keanu Reeves. The actor, often derided for a perceived lack of … what, emotion, talent?

Whatever the case, Reeves, 44, has played any number of memorable roles, in films as diverse as “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” “My Own Private Idaho,” “Speed” and “The Matrix” trilogy. He was friendly and thoughtful while talking by phone recently about his latest film – what he called a “popcorn message movie.”

Q. Did you see the 1951 original of “The Day the Earth Stood Still?”

A. “I did, yeah, sure. I saw it when I was a kid. I actually saw it on a black-and-white television when I was a kid. I watched it a few times before we went to production.”

Q. Did you keep the original in mind while doing the remake?

A. I was approached to do “The Day the Earth Stood Still” before seeing the script for it. So to me it was like, well, why do you want to make it? And Scott Derrickson, the director, said the (original) film was of its time. We’re going to make a film of our time. (I) read the script, saw what he was talking about.”

Q. Klaatu spends a lot of the film without showing any emotion or feeling. How do you go about playing that?

A. The character’s birthed in the film. There’s a scene where you see him kind of developing as an organism. One of the lines that character has is, “This body is going to take some getting used to.” So in the beginning he doesn’t really have all the behavioral cues.

But I thought I gave a strong point of view. He is an instrument of justice and he’s also an executioner. I think what we did was kind of have this sinister quality to him.

Q. You seem like you’re in a comfortable place – you take time off and appear to wait for the roles you want.

A. I’m not bad where I am. I’m a bit of a workaholic. If I haven’t been working for a while, it’s because I couldn’t find the right piece. I feel like I’m kind of entering a second phase of a career, so I have that kind of ambition. What are the roles going to be now? What kind of roles? What kind of work? I’m reading scripts, taking meetings, meeting directors and developing my own stuff.

The birthday bunch

Actor Dick Van Dyke is 83. Actor Christopher Plummer is 79. Actor Robert Prosky is 78. Country singer Buck White of The Whites is 78. Actor-singer John Davidson is 67. Singer Ted Nugent is 60. Actress Kathy Garver is 63. Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (The Doobie Brothers) is 60. Country singer John Anderson is 54. Actor Steve Buscemi is 51. Actor Jamie Foxx is 41. Country singer Taylor Swift is 19.