The Fake Name Keanu Reeves Resisted Using as His Stage Name

Keanu Reeves recently revealed that, early in his acting career, he was strongly discouraged from using his birth name.

On a Wednesday, Oct. 15 episode of the “New Heights” podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce, Reeves, now 61, made the revelation. 

He shared that when he was about 20 and moving from Toronto to Los Angeles, a manager told him that he should use a stage name.

Reeves said he briefly experimented with names like “Chuck Spadina” — inspired by his middle name Charles and a street he grew up on — and even used “K.C. Reeves” during one of his earliest roles in a made-for-TV anthology series.

But he found the idea of another name uncomfortable, particularly during auditions. 

“And then I couldn’t do it,” Reeves said on the name. “I would be in auditions and they would go, ‘K. C. Reeves?’ And I wouldn’t even answer.”

Eventually, he told his management team, “I’m not doing this.”  

Looking back, Reeves called it a quintessential “Hollywood moment.”

Legacy & Reflection

Reeves’s refusal to take a stage name joins a tradition among actors who retained their birth names despite industry pressure.

Leonardo DiCaprio told a very similar story when he appeared on a different episode of the popular podcast.

“I finally got an agent. They said, ‘Your name is too ethnic,’” DiCaprio recalled at the time. He continued, “I go, ‘What do you mean? It’s Leonardo DiCaprio.’ They go, ‘No, too ethnic. They’re never gonna hire you. Your new name is Lenny Williams.’”

The 50-year-old revealed that the agent wanted him to go by “Lenny Williams.” DiCaprio’s middle name is Wilhelm.

The stage name was a hard no, as DiCaprio revealed his dad shut the idea down.

He recalled his dad saying, “Over my dead body.”

Reeves Previously Had Marriage Rumors

As Reeves has been busy promoting his new film “Good Fortune,” he was also met with rumors that he tied the knot with his longtime partner Alexandra Grant.

He spoke with E! News on the recent false rumor. “Well, that wasn’t the first time,” he told the outlet. “We’ve been going out for a long time.”

Grant previously shot down the reports with an Instagram post in September.

“This is a real photo. Not an engagement photo or an AI wedding announcement… simply a kiss! (Albeit maybe the moment right before or after it… given the slightly goofy expressions on our faces!)” she wrote.

Reeves praised Grant for her social media post during his recent interview.

“The wedding, it’s a nice thing,” he told the outlet. “People did a lot of nice messages and stuff, but Alexandra just did a wonderful [job] addressing. Like, ‘Thank you, but here’s the reality.’”

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