Keanu Reeves almost called himself Chuck Spadina because Hollywood didn’t like his name

Keanu Reeves’ acting agency gave the then 20-year-old the task of coming up with a new name. The actor then made a creative proposal.

Keanu Reeves is known for films such as The Matrix, Speed ​​and John Wick and is now one of Hollywood’s greatest actors. You can read more about the biography of the actor from our colleagues at Moviepilot.

However, Reeves also started out small in the film industry and was even supposed to come up with a new name on his first day in Hollywood.

In interviews on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in June 2017 and Good Morning America in December 2021, the actor shared the story of how he almost changed his name to Chuck Spadina as a result.

Watch below a trailer of Keanu Reeve’s latest movie John Wick: Chapter 4:

“What’s my name?”

20-year-old Keanu Reeves has arrived in Hollywood in his first car with a big desire to make movies.

His acting agency welcomed him, but said straight away that they wanted to change the actor’s name. When asked why, the agency replied that Keanu was “perhaps a little too exotic” (via YouTube).

Here you can see the YouTube video of Keanu Reeves telling the story:

So they gave Reeves the task of coming up with a new name. The young actor then goes to the sea to think in peace. The name change is a big deal for him, after all.

“What’s my name?” Reeves keeps asking himself. Then he finds him: Chuck Spadina. Keanu Reeves promptly suggested him to the acting agency, but Chuck Spadina was turned down.

“What’s wrong with Chuck Spadina? Isn’t that the direction you want to go in?” Reeves asked. But the agency refused to be talked to. So the actor came up with an alternative. “I was getting better at it,” Reeves commented on The Tonight Show.

The next suggestion is then Tempelton Page-Taylor. Laughing, the actor says: “I tried to wear her down”.

In the end, Keanu Reeves couldn’t bring himself to change his own name and kept his birth name. In retrospect, the actor is happy about it.

Though Keanu Reeves wasn’t actually the killer’s age, he still landed the big part:

Keanu Reeves Didn’t Actually Fit the Role of John Wick – ‘Obviously You’re Not 75’