In the early days of his career, when Keanu Reeves was still finding his footing, he found himself in a situation that would forever change his identity. As he recounted on the New Heights podcast, one Wednesday evening, he shared a tale of his time in Toronto, Canada, where he met a manager from Los Angeles who had an idea that would alter his name forever.
"I was 20 years old, driving my car to LA, and as I stepped out of my car, my manager announced, 'We're going to change your name.' It was like a rite of passage into Hollywood," he recalled. "I remember walking on the beach, pondering my name and wondering, 'What if I changed it? What would happen?'"
Despite the initial shock, Reeves' creative mind came up with some alternatives. "My middle name is Charles, so I thought, 'Chuck?' And then there was the street I grew up on, Spadina. Chuck Spadina," he said with a chuckle. "And then there was Templeton. So I became K.C. Reeves. I was credited as K.C. Reeves for an episode of The Magical World of Disney in 1986."
However, the name didn't stick. "I couldn't do it. I was in auditions and they'd say, 'K.C. Reeves,' and I wouldn't even respond," Reeves said with a smile. "Six months later, I knew it wasn't for me. That's a Hollywood moment."
Reeves' experience isn't unique in Hollywood. Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro have also opened up about being encouraged to change their names. On the same podcast, DiCaprio shared that an agent told him his name was "too ethnic."
"I finally got an agent and they said, 'Your name is too ethnic.' I asked, 'What do you mean?' They replied, 'No, too ethnic. They'll never hire you. Your new name is Lenny Williams.' I asked, 'What's Lenny Williams?' They said, 'We took your middle name and made it your last name, and now your first name is Lenny.' My dad saw the headshot the agent took and ripped it up, saying, 'Over my dead body.'"
