Sezín Devi Koehler is a multiracial Sri Lankan/Lithuanian American pop-culture journalist and author of Much Ado About Keanu: A Critical Reeves Theory, now available from Chicago Review Press (April 2025). Her bylines include Entertainment Weekly, Black Girl Nerds, The Daily Beast, Teen Vogue, Huffington Post, Bitch Media both in print and online, and many more.
Here she talks with us about her new book, and why there is more to Keanu Reeves acting, his film choices, and his impact, than you might expect.
About You as a Writer
What first made you want to write nonfiction? Was there a particular moment, influence, or story that sparked your shift toward cultural and critical writing?
For a long time my writing career consisted of personal essays, mining my traumas for public consumption during that particular cultural moment in the 2010s when that was all the rage, especially for women of color. But after several years of that emotionally exhausting work I found myself burned out and I met an editor for a pop-culture magazine who encouraged me to pitch. I’ve always loved writing about pop-culture from a sociological lens. And just like that (as in, long hours and very little pay!), I found myself becoming a film and TV critic with a unique perspective that eventually turned into Much Ado About Keanu.
How would you describe your voice and approach as a writer, especially when working in hybrid forms like personal essay, cultural criticism, and genre theory?
I’m academic minded but try to keep my writing accessible for all audiences. I’m also unique as a culture critic in that when I approach an artifact I read it from the perspective of the most marginalized groups that could be negatively affected by it. From race to gender to sexuality and even differently presenting bodies, if a marginalized or minoritized community is presented in a harmful way I’ll focus on that aspect and its broader social and cultural implications.
Are there authors, books, films, or other media that helped shape your style or the way you approach your subjects?
This will sound strange, but I’m a huge fan of Roger Ebert’s film criticism and feel like he was ahead of his time in so many ways, especially as a white film reviewer. Back in the day he called out Predator for its cloaked anti-Blackness, and I think I take that sensibility to an even more intersectional level.
What part of your writing process feels most intuitive — and what part tends to challenge you the most?
The idea process for me is the fountain that never stops. I sometimes get so bogged down with so many project ideas that I don’t know where to begin — or how to finish ones I’ve already started. The follow-through aspect can be difficult for me sometimes, especially in a publishing landscape that’s constantly shifting and it’s sometimes unclear what idea will actually sell at any given moment.
Do you follow a structured writing routine, or do you prefer to write when inspiration strikes?
When I have deadlines I have a structured routine since ongoing hand injuries mean I can only write a limited amount of words per day. If I’m deadline-free, then I’ll be less rigid with myself. I have too many projects in the works so I’ll just let whichever one calls me come to the surface on that day.
When you're in a creative rut or struggling with a project, what helps you find your way back into the work?
I’ll work on something else for a while. I really do have a dozen projects in the works including nonfiction, a memoir-in-essays, novels, a screenplay, poetry collections, so if I get stuck on one I’ll pick another to dive into for a while.
I’ll also go for a walk. Go to a live show or go dancing. I love hanging out with old trees and they usually have something to say that’ll unstick my creativity.
Has your approach to nonfiction evolved over the years? What’s one thing you’ve learned that’s made your voice stronger or your writing more rewarding?
I’m in a transitional phase of my life at the moment after divorce and relocating from Florida to California, so there’s a lot happening under the creative surface that I’m still figuring out. I have lots of nonfiction projects in the works, but they aren’t the ones I’m feeling most drawn to. I’d rather write poetry and movies and my mushroom horror novel. That said, I think it’s also a reaction to having spent four years working on Much Ado About Keanu and now my brain just wants to do something different. I’m curious to see how my next nonfiction book(s) turn out because right now the process feels rather mysterious to me.
Inside Much Ado About Keanu
How would you introduce Much Ado About Keanu to readers unfamiliar with your work?
Much Ado About Keanu is a super nerdy deep dive into the social and cultural importance of Keanu’s work through its intersections with everything from history to politics to queer theory and feminism and so much more.
What inspired you to center a full-length book on Keanu Reeves? Was there a moment or film that unlocked a new perspective for you?
I actually didn’t set out to write a book about Keanu. Originally I wanted to write an oral history of River Phoenix and cultural analysis of the few films he made while he was here with us. But when I began researching I quickly learned that not only are people who knew him really protective of his memory, but some are just not ready to talk about him publicly, most of all his family. I couldn’t do this project without the support of River’s mom Heart and his siblings.
So I went back to the drawing board and one night woke up with a thought running through my head: Keanu Reeves is the River Phoenix who lived. And when I look at Keanu’s work, I see so much of a career arc that River would have followed as well had he lived, from romantic lead to action star to dramatic actor and indie darling.
It was actually the spirit of River who kept me going during the many challenges I faced finishing the project, including a botched carpal tunnel surgery, a broken elbow and titanium reconstruction, AND a divorce and cross-country move amid it all. Based on interviews River gave before his death where he spoke so highly of Keanu as a performer and screen partner, I hope I’ve done them both justice here.
What did you discover in writing this book that surprised you — either about Keanu, pop culture, or yourself?
That Keanu might be a Gen X icon, but he’s a tail end boomer, born in 1964! Isn’t that wild? I was also surprised to learn just how many women directors Keanu has worked with since the beginning of his career, more than any of his peers.
The biggest thing, though, was learning that at any given moment Keanu has a hundred or more scripts on his desk — and he reads them all to carefully choose his projects. He’s not being insulated by agents and managers who cherry-pick movies for him. So, looking through his catalog of indie films of all stripes and thinking about how Keanu himself chose those films out of a hundred others available, adds new weight to the creative choices he’s actively making. I think that’s just a brilliant detail about a brilliant man.
Were there chapters or topics that were especially difficult to write — emotionally, intellectually, or structurally? How did you push through those moments?
The book is broken down into three parts based on Tarot cards that represent the archetypal nature of Keanu’s work: The Emperor, The Devil, and The World.
Part 2: The Devil was particularly difficult for me with all of the above since the dark themes in his work are particularly heinous. The chapter on gender-based violence in Keanu’s films was especially harrowing to write as a survivor of that kind of horror myself, and these themes have been present in his work regularly since his first movie appearance in 1986 in Act of Vengeance. Every time I had to go in and edit those chapters I’d often have a stomach ache for days after. But it’s a testament to Keanu’s range and importance as a performer that he’s never shied away from the darker side of the human experience. And sadly, violence against women and girls is timeless. I pushed through because that’s what survivors do.
The Writer’s Inner World
What keeps you motivated when the writing gets hard, whether because of burnout, imposter syndrome, or the weight of your subject matter?
I have an amazing writing community that has become even more incredible since I joined the San Francisco Writers Grotto. I find when I’m stuck it also helps to be helpful to other creatives and people in general. Like, you know that scene in Unbreakable when Bruce Willis’ character goes to the train station and turns on his spidey sense to find someone in need? I sort of do that. I go to a public place, whether in person or online, and see who is looking for support, guidance, or with an actual ask I can then help them move the needle on. It gets me out of my own head and reminds me of what an extraordinary community I’m part of.
I also suppose I’m “lucky” to have never experienced much of imposter syndrome as I’ve spent most of my writing life in pure survival mode. I didn’t have time or emotional space to doubt myself, I just had to keep creating. I never needed an inner saboteur when I had actual ones in my life working against me, yikes!
Are there particular tools, prompts, or rituals you turn to when you need to reset or reignite your creativity?
Long walks. Live music. Dancing. A couple glasses of absinthe at my favorite local pub. Spending time with friends and chatting with other writers. Dancing and chatting with other writers has really become my go-to and it’s the most restorative process I can think of now.
What role does feedback play in your process — and how do you know when a piece is really “done”?
When my editor says it is. :-)
Connecting with Readers
What does this book mean to you on a personal level and what do you hope it offers to readers who come to it from different backgrounds or fandoms?
Keanu Reeves is a great source of joy in my life and it’s been such an honor to dedicate all of this work to his art. I hope Much Ado About Keanu will help folks reconsider Keanu as a talented performer and focus less on him being a likeable person.
If you could sit down with someone who’s just finished the book, what would you want to ask them?
What’s your favorite Keanu film and did anything I wrote help you think differently/more deeply about it?
Looking Ahead
What are you working on next, or what new questions are currently keeping you up at night (in a good way)?
I have so much in the works at the moment! An action drama screenplay that’s Succession meets Gladiator. A mushroom horror novel in the vein of Last Of Us meeting Banshees of Inisherin. A Florida gothic carnival novel that’s Cloud Atlas meets Carnivale. A sociocultural study of antiheroes, whiteness, and privilege on screen. A few collections of poetry. A memoir-in-essays inspired by John Wick. A study of masculinity in pop-culture from an intersectional feminist perspective. Editing two essay anthologies, one about the social sciences behind Bill & Ted’s adventures and another exploring VC Andrews’s scandalous Flowers In the Attic series and adaptations.
And my dream project is still the Oral History of River Phoenix. I have a whole plan to bring this book into being and will begin taking steps toward it soon.
What advice would you offer aspiring nonfiction writers?
This is the hardest question! My gut response is to tell them to be anything but a writer, this is such a difficult profession with the least rewards, unless you’re independently wealthy.
But also, if you’re compelled to write there’s nothing that can stop you and you just have to keep going. Don’t take rejection personally. Work in community with other writers as often as you can. Be honest. Be helpful. Be kind, especially to yourself.
Where can readers follow your work or connect with you online? (Website, newsletter, social media, etc.)
Thanks,
Hiram Larew
https://hiddenpeakpress.com/2025/06/30/hiram-larew-given-over-poem/