The Associated Press

BAKERSFIELD, Vt. € Just two years ago, Sylvie McCann couldn't even pronounce Keanu Reeves' name € ''I used to say 'KEE-new,' '' she says.

But now she knows all about the movies he has made and the scripts he has rejected. She knows where he has been and where he is going. She has seen him three times, live € though she's never met him.

And she knows how to pronounce his name (Kee-AH-new).

To this 34-year-old fuel company clerk, Keanu Reeves is more than a buffed up idol of the silver screen. He is an artist, he is mystery, he is a font of self-discovery.

''Because he's very introspective,'' she says, ''he makes you think about yourself. Other people feel that way too. He has awakened things in my life.''

McCann has become a guru of Keanuology. With Zero Distortion, a monthly newsletter McCann publishes from a spare bedroom in her Bakersfield home, she spreads Keanu news to 130 subscribers in the United States and overseas.

The style is chatty and informal, but not gossipy. You'll not find juicy tidbits about Reeves' private life in Zero Distortion; look elsewhere for rumors that he is gay.

''We'll never know € and who cares, really?'' McCann said. ''He wouldn't be attracted to me anyway.''

McCann's fascination with the 31-year-old actor began in 1994, after she saw Reeves in the action movie ''Speed.''

''First of all, he was gorgeous,'' said McCann. It wasn't just good looks; he also had presence. ''Wherever in a scene he was, your eyes went there.''

But a search for more information about the star revealed little. Tabloid gossip wasn't what she was after. And when she mustered the courage to ask his agency how to get in touch with his fan club, she was told ''there was no fan club € his lawyers don't want one.''

And so was born Zero Distortion, named for something Reeves said in the movie ''Point Break.''

From the start, the newsletter's editorial direction focused on celebrating Reeves' mystique, his nomadic spirit, and his ''romantic mixture of vulnerability and exoticism.''

''Take a bow, Keanu,'' McCann wrote in the first issue about the star's performance in a stage version of ''Hamlet.'' ''Your off-stage performance has already enlightened us with the essence of Shakespeare.''

From interviews and films, she has gleaned this concept of Keanu:

Keanu is introspective and independent. He stands up for what he believes is right, eschews the movie-star glitz of Hollywood, and works hard to perfect his art. He's kind and respectful toward his co-workers and his fans. He's poetic in his language and his daily deeds.

''I don't know if it's a real picture,'' McCann said. ''My opinion is that he's very mysterious.''