Keanu Reeves once almost named himself after a major Toronto street
Ah Keanu Reeves, the ever-iconic, immortal, busy cracking up about dummies who buy NFTs and strapping Christmas trees to his tiny Porsche — we'd still know and love him by any other name, surely?
But what if that name was something like, oh, I don't know... Chuck Spadina?
Ridiculous as it seems, that was apparently almost the case, according to the actor himself.
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— Robert (Shawn) Andrews (@RobertShawn13) September 16, 2021
Before becoming an actor, Keanu Reeves was encouraged to change his name. He considered Chuck Spadina and Templeton Paige Taylor
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Reeves, who is currently in Toronto for the Canadian premiere of The Matrix Resurrections, shared the odd tidbit during an interview with Good Morning America about his forthcoming film.
"So many people now, they scream 'Keanu, Keanu," but at one point, they wanted you to change your name," interviewer Michael Strahan said during the duo's five-minute chat on Wednesday.
"Yes, they did sir," Reeves replied, putting his forehead in his hand.
keanu reeves' alt toronto stage names:
— Jill Krajewski (@JillKrajewski) December 16, 2021
chuck spadina
butch ossington
neil yonge-eglinton
frank castle frank
neo bellwoods
"I'm 20 years old, I'm in my first car, I wanted to be in movies, I went to Hollywood. And I get there and they're like, 'We wanna change your name,'" Reeves recounted.
He then goes on to say that bigwigs thought Keanu was "too exotic" sounding, and so he considered some other options — one of them being the rather absurd Chuck Spadina, ostensibly named for the thoroughfare and other key attractions in Toronto, where Keanu was raised.
"I just came up with ridiculous names," Reeves continued, smiling. "I just actually couldn't do it, I couldn't do it."
"Oh my god, is that Keanu Reeves?"
— Channing King (@ChanningKing) December 16, 2021
"Nope. Chuck Spadina." https://t.co/3BzCee42RX
Though Reeves taking on a Toronto-inspired epithet would have been pretty kickass, it admittedly may have been a little hard to take the star seriously with a name like Chuck Spadina, which feels almost impossible for a local to say out loud without laughing.
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