Keanu Reeves latest in line of A-list Hollywood racers from McQueen to Dempsey

But even when the cameras stopped rolling, his passion for motor racing continued.

In 1961, he finished third a British Touring Car Championship round at Brands Hatch behind the wheel of a BMC Mini and later competed in off-track motorcycle races such as the Mint 400, Baja 1000, and Elsinore Grand Prix. In 1970 he entered the 12 Hours of Sebring, co-piloting a Porsche 908/2 with Peter Revson to second overall behind the Ferrari of Mario Andretti, Nino Vaccarella and Ignazio Giunti.

McQueen intended to race that same Porsche in the Le Mans 24 Hours three months later, but his insurers forbade him to do so.

Nevertheless, the Hollywood A-lister did eventually make it to La Sarthe, as he captured in-car footage aboard a Porsche 917K during the 1970 24-hour race, amid a pack of professional drivers such as Jacky Ickx, Richard Attwood, Gérard Larrousse, Jürgen Barth, Masten Gregory and Derek Bell — all of whom were extras in Le Mans. 

Paul Newman

The legendary Paul Newman passed away in 2008. Yet just a year earlier, at 82 years young, he was seen at Watkins Glen International strapping himself into a 700-horsepower GT-1 class Chevrolet Corvette. He duly put his car on pole position and a few months later won his final event at Lime Rock, marking a fitting end to what many full-time race drivers would call a highly-successful career — let alone a part-time one.

Aside from appearing in Hollywood classics such as The Hustler and The Verdict; voicing Doc Hudson in the Disney movie Cars; and winning an Oscar for his leading role in The Colour of Money, Newman also developed a winning reputation behind the wheel of a race car.

Over a near-40 year career, Newman won seven SCCA National Championships; finished second in his GT class at Le Mans in 1979; won a Trans-Am race at Brainerd in 1982; and finished third overall in the 1995 Daytona 24 Hours.

In 1983, Newman also joined forces with Carl Haas to form the Newman-Haas IndyCar team, which would later be recognised as one of the most successful outfits in the series’ history: winning 105 races and securing eight championships.

Patrick Dempsey 

Patrick Dempsey is perhaps Hollywood’s most modern day equivalent of Newman and McQueen. Aside from appearing in a broad filmography and acting as Derek Shephard in Grey’s Anatomy for 16 years, the American has also targeted gradually greater accolades behind the wheel of a race car — which more often than not has been a Porsche.

Dempsey began his motor sport career in 2005, competing in the Mid Ohio Panoz Racing Series. From there he gradually made his way up the ladder, before arriving at Le Mans with Ferrari in 2009.

“Up till then I’d been only to watch from the crowd,” Dempsey told A Rabbits Foot. “But to go as a competitor was a dream come true. My proudest moment. It wasn’t straightforward: I remember that one of our co-drivers got sick so it was just me and one other person going back in-and-out of the car over the race’s duration.”

He returned to La Sarthe in 2013, this time with Porsche, and finished fourth in the GTE-AM class alongside Patrick Long and Joe Foster. In the same year, Dempsey also scored two podium finishes in the American Le Mans Series: first scoring second place at Laguna Seca before finishing third in Austin.

2015 saw the relisation of a life-long dream, as Dempsey made it onto the Le Mans podium with a second-place finish in the 24 hour event and he also scored his first in-class win at the 6 Hours of Fuji — held in tumultuous conditions.

Dempsey has continued to race sporadically in Porsche sports cars, while also making his race debut on the big screen: acting as Piero Taruffi in Michael Mann’s Ferrari. 

James Dean 

James Dean is recognised by many as Hollywood’s original racer.

The actor best known for his starring role in Rebel Without a Cause had a deep passion for motor sport, and began racing as a novice in 1955 at Palm Springs Road Races. He won his first amateur event, qualifying him for the finals in which he competed against the likes of Ken Miles and Cy Yedor. Dean ultimately finished second.

Two months later he arrived at Minter Field Bakersfield, California, to compete in 1300-2000cc production and 750-1500cc modified races. Once again, Dean showed brilliant pace as he finished third in the main event but was classified first overall in his class.

Tragically, the 24-year-old’s promising dual-career was cut short, as he was killed in a road accident while driving his ‘cursed’ Porsche 550 Spyder on his way to a racing event in California.