Why Keanu Reeves Used A Different Name For One Of His First Roles

Before he was known as Keanu Reeves, the now-beloved actor briefly went by the name KC Reeves. As he explained in a recent interview with the New Heights podcast to promote his latest movie, "Good Fortune," when Reeves first arrived in Hollywood, his new manager gave him some questionable advice. "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]," he said. He continued:

I remember I was walking on the beach and I was just like, 'My name? What if I change my name? What?' 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."

You can find this short-lived name in the end credits of a 1986 episode of the anthology show, "The Magical World of Disney," this one titled "Young Again." This was Reeves' first and last time going by KC, a name that simply felt wrong to him. "I couldn't do it," he explained. "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." 

Most of Reeves' fans are glad he kept his real first name. "Keanu" is more memorable and interesting, a far better fit for a guy who has made so strong a mark on the entire action film genre. "KC" simply sounds like Casey, and we've got plenty of other Caseys in Hollywood. 

Although it seems ridiculous that any manager would tell Reeves to ditch the name Keanu, this is far from the strangest request a not-yet-famous actor has ever been asked. In his own interview with the New Heights podcast, Leonardo DiCaprio recalled in September 2025 how his first agent told him his name was "too ethnic" to be successful. As he recalled:

"I go, What do you mean?' They go, 'No, too ethnic. They're never going to hire you. Your new name is Lenny Williams. 'What's Lenny Williams?' 'We took your middle name and made it your last name and now [your first] name is Lenny.' And my dad saw [the headshot photo the agent took], he ripped it up, and said, 'Over my dead body.'"

Like with Keanu, it seems hard to imagine such a larger-than-life figure like DiCaprio going by a name so ordinary. But for every bad example of a suggested name change, there is at least one good one. Michael Keaton, for instance, has the real name of Michael Douglas, so he changed his name to avoid any confusion with the other Michael Douglas, who was already a famous movie star at the time. Meanwhile, Marilyn Monroe's real name was Norma Jeane Mortenson, which admittedly does not roll off the tongue as smoothly. There are some cases where an actor changing their name is a smart move; Keanu Reeves' wasn't one of them.