Keanu Reeves Nearly Had A Different Stage Name Before Becoming An Action Star: "I Couldn't Do It"

Keanu Reeves nearly had a different stage name before becoming an action star, though he just “couldn’t do it.” Today, the actor’s name is widely ᴀssociated with his leading roles in action films, from The Matrix to John Wick.

During a recent appearance on the New Heights podcast hosted by Jason and Travis Kelce, promoting his new movie Good Fortune, Reeves revealed that when he first came to Hollywood as a teenager, his manager strongly insisted that he change his name. Reeves recalled:

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?”

His manager’s request threw Reeves into an existential crisis, prompting him to brainstorm potential new names he could use to pursue a career in Hollywood, and he decided on “Chuck Spadina” before changing to “something Templeton” and eventually becoming KC Reeves, since his middle name is Charles. He explained:

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.

In one of his earliest roles, The Magical World of Disney in 1986, Reeves was actually credited as “K.C. Reeves.” During a 2017 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he revealed that one of the names considered for him was “Templeton Paige Taylor.” Luckily, by the time he began securing higher-profile roles in projects like Dangerous Liaisons and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, he was once again using his real name, Keanu Reeves.

Changing names is a widespread practice in Hollywood. In his own appearance on the New Heights podcast last month, Leonardo DiCaprio shared that a former agent once advised him to drop “DiCaprio” early in his career because it sounded “too ethnic,” suggesting the name “Lenny Williams” instead. DiCaprio recalled:

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.”

Emma Stone’s real name is “Emily Stone,” having changed it early in her career since her name was already taken when registering for the Screen Actors Guild. She briefly went by “Riley Stone,” which she struggled to adjust to, before changing her stage name to “Emma” in honor of Emma Bunton, aka Baby Spice, of the Spice Girls.

Reeves has returned to the spotlight to promote his latest comedy, Good Fortune, which releases in theaters on October 17. Directed by Aziz Ansari and co-starring Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer, the film follows Keanu Reeves as a guardian angel who loses his wings while attempting to show a human that money can’t solve everything.