Keanu Reeves almost sent his identity to the matrix.
Indeed, the Matrix alum shared that he briefly changed his real name during the early days of his acting career—but ultimately, he couldn’t fully commit to taking the blue pill.
“I was a professional actor around 16, 17,” Keanu, 61, explained in the Oct. 15 episode of the New Heights podcast. “I ended up doing a movie in Toronto that got me an agent in L.A. So, 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.’”
The John Wick star was confused by his manager’s suggestion at the time, especially since they didn’t have a new moniker prepared for him. So, Keanu began to brainstorm his new stage name.
“I remember I was walking on the beach and I was like, ‘My name? What if I change my name?’” he reflected on his thought process. “My middle name is Charles, so I was like ‘Chuck?’ And I grew up on a street called Spadina, [so I thought] ‘Chuck Spadina?’ Then I was like, ‘something Templeton.’ But then I became ‘KC Reeves.’”
