Keanu Reeves delighted his homesick MATRIX RELOADED co-star Nona Gaye by treating her to French lessons on the set of the sci-fi film.

Reeves's gift not only helped the ALI actress feel more at home on the film's Sydney, Australia set - it also alleviated her boredom between shooting scenes.

She says, "It took me seconds to realise he's a very kind and intelligent person. I remember when I first got to Australia I didn't have anything to do for a month and a half and everyone else was working.

"I just sat in my hotel room alone and going crazy and Keanu asked me what I wanted to do because he saw I was bored.

"I said, 'I've always wanted to learn how to speak French,' and he said, 'Oh, that's nice.' Then his assistant called back and said, 'We've set up six weeks at BERLITZ (language school) for French lessons.'

"That's how kind he is. I've heard he's done similar things for other people, like buying lovely bottles of wine for the crew and the cast. He's a very generous person."

27/10/2003 09:37