Keanu Reeves Was Once Advised to Change His Name and Considered Chuck Spadina and KC Reeves
When Keanu Reeves first rolled into Hollywood at 20 years old, he was ready to chase his dream of becoming a professional actor. What he didn’t expect was for his manager to immediately suggest something that would throw him into an identity crisis… changing his name.
During a recent appearance on the New Heights podcast, Reeves revealed just how close he came to losing the name that fans around the world now know and love.
“I got paid when I was like 16, so I was a professional actor around 16, 17 [years old]. I was in Toronto, Canada, and then I got a manager who lived in Los Angeles…. At 20 years old, I drove in my car to Los Angeles.
“Got out of my car and my manager said, ‘We want to change your name.’ So that’s like, a welcome to Hollywood [moment]. I remember I was walking on the beach and I was just like, ‘My name? What if I change my name? What?’”
That moment led Reeves down a hilarious path of self-reinvention. He started brainstorming names that could sound more “Hollywood.”
“My middle name is Charles, so I was like, ‘…Chuck?’ And I grew up on a street called Spadina, [therefore] Chuck Spadina, and then I was something Templeton.
“So then I became KC Reeves. I was credited as KC Reeves… And then I couldn’t do it. So then I would be in auditions and they would go, ‘KC Reeves.’ And I wouldn’t even answer. Six months later, I was like, ‘I’m not doing this.’ That’s a Hollywood moment.”
So, for a short time, Reeves actually went by “KC Reeves,” appearing under that name in a 1986 made-for-TV Magical World of Disney movie. He also once told Jimmy Fallon that another name in the running was “Templeton Paige Taylor.”
Thankfully, by the time he started appearing in films like Dangerous Liaisons and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Reeves had reclaimed his real name, and the rest is movie history.
These kinds of “Hollywood name change” stories are more common than people might think. Leonardo DiCaprio recently shared that his own agent once pushed for a rebrand as Lenny Williams, when he was a kid. He said:
“I finally got an agent. They said, ‘Your name is too ethnic.’ I go, ‘What do you mean? It’s Leonardo DiCaprio?’ They go, ‘No, too ethnic. They’re never going to hire you.
“Your new name is Lenny Williams.’ I said, ‘What is Lenny?’ I was 12, 13. I said, ‘What is Lenny Williams? We took your middle name and we made it. Now you’re Lenny.’”
Thankfully, neither Reeves nor DiCaprio listened to that advice. Imagine a world where The Matrix starred Chuck Spadina!
Reeves is now gearing up for his next big-screen appearance in Aziz Ansari’s upcoming comedy Good Fortune, co-starring Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer.
In the film, Reeves plays a guardian angel who loses his wings while teaching a man that money doesn’t buy happiness. The movie hits theaters on October 17 from Lionsgate.