{"id":229696,"date":"2025-10-16T19:01:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T19:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/229696\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T19:01:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T19:01:12","slug":"keanu-reeves-says-manager-told-him-to-change-name-to-chuck-spadina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/229696\/","title":{"rendered":"Keanu Reeves Says Manager Told Him to Change Name to ‘Chuck Spadina’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tKeanu Reeves<\/a> revealed on the \u201cNew Heights\u201d podcast that his manager was adamant about changing the actor\u2019s name when he first arrived in Hollywood as a teenager. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI got paid when I was like 16, so I was a professional actor around 16, 17 [years old],\u201d Reeves said. \u201cI was in Toronto, Canada, and then I got a manager who lived in Los Angeles\u2026. At 20 years old, I drove in my car to Los Angeles. Got out of my car and my manager said, \u2018We want to change your name.\u2019 So that\u2019s like, a welcome to Hollywood [moment]. I remember I was walking on the beach and I was just like, \u2018My name? What if I change my\u00a0name? What?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHis manager\u2019s request sent Reeves into an existential spiral. Then Reeves started brainstorming what he could possibly change his name to if he wanted to be a Hollywood performer.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy middle name is Charles, so I was like, \u2018\u2026Chuck?\u2019 And I grew up on a street called Spadina, [therefore] Chuck Spadina,\u201d Reeves said. \u201cAnd then I was something Templeton. So then I became KC Reeves. I was credited as KC Reeves\u2026 \u00a0And then I couldn\u2019t do it. So then I would be in auditions and they would go, \u2018KC Reeves.\u2019 And I wouldn\u2019t even answer. Six months later, I was like, \u2018I\u2019m not doing this.\u2019 That\u2019s a Hollywood moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tReeves actually was credited as \u201cKC Reeves\u201d in one of his first films, a made-for-TV movie in 1986 for the Magical World of Disney. The actor told Jimmy Fallon in 2017 (via EW<\/a>) that the \u201cTempleton\u201d name that was considered for him was \u201cTempleton Paige Taylor.\u201d Fortunately by the time Reeves started landing more high profile work in projects like \u201cDangerous Liaisons\u201d and \u201cBill & Ted\u2019s Excellent Adventure,\u201d he was being credited by his real name \u201cKeanu Reeves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tReeves is back on the promotional trail for his new comedy, \u201cGood Fortune<\/a>.\u201d Directed by Aziz Ansari and co-starring Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer, the movie casts Reeves as a guardian angel who loses his wings while trying to teach a human that money doesn\u2019t solve one\u2019s problems. The comedy opens in theaters Oct. 17 from Lionsgate.<\/p>\n

\n\tName changes are a common practice in Hollywood. Leonardo DiCaprio revealed in his own \u201cNew Heights<\/a>\u201d interview last month that an ex-agent told him to ditch \u201cDiCaprio\u201d as a young actor because it sounded \u201ctoo ethnic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI finally got an agent. They said, \u2018Your name is too ethnic,\u2019\u201d DiCaprio recalled. \u201cI go, \u2018What do you mean? It\u2019s Leonardo DiCaprio?\u2019 They go, \u2018No, too ethnic. They\u2019re never going to hire you. Your new name is Lenny Williams.\u2019 I said, \u2018What is Lenny?\u2019 I was 12, 13. I said, \u2018What is Lenny Williams? We took your middle name and we made it. Now you\u2019re Lenny.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch Reeves\u2019 full interview on the \u201cNew Heights\u201d podcast in the video below.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keanu Reeves revealed on the \u201cNew Heights\u201d podcast that his manager was adamant about changing the actor\u2019s name…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,26773,10490,206,41749],"class_list":{"0":"post-229696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-good-fortune","10":"tag-keanu-reeves","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-the-matrix"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}