Keanu Reeves was reassured that turning 40 wasn't so bad by his friend Dustin Hoffman.
The 48-year-old actor hated reaching the milestone age but was thankful his older pal was able to point out that life could be even better as he gets older and that things would work out for the best in the end.
He said: "When I reached 40, I remember hanging out with Dustin Hoffman and said to him, 'Being 40 is a bitch.'
"He said, 'No, it's not, being 40 is great.' He then went on to list all the changes he'd had in his life around that time—he was divorced around 40—but that I had to hang on in there and things would work out for the best.
"It's nice to have another older male pat you on the back and tell you everything is going to be OK."
The Speed actor has suffered double tragedy in his life, with his daughter Ava tragically still-born in 1999 and the tot's mother, Jennifer Syme, dying in a car crash in 2001, and he admits the two traumatic experiences fundamentally changed him and he is still unsure if he will ever have a family of his own.
He added to The Sun newspaper: "A lot of my friends have got kids and I go to their places for barbecues and watch them jump into the pool with their parents.
"Something happens to everyone that will change them. I had a lot of fears and I began to reflect on life. The reflections were connected to what happened in the past. I have had some dear friends pass away.
"I do now have a family of my own. So will that happen? How am I as a person?"