“I’d never met a Keanu before”: Keanu Reeves Has a Hawaiian Cousin Named ‘Keanu’
One of the most talented actors in the business, Keanu Reeves, captivates both the audience and his co-stars with both his extraordinary acting abilities and endearing personality. One of those people who is reputed to have no haters is the actor.
The John Wick actor has starred in some of the most well-known films of all time, such as Speed, Bill & Ted, The Matrix, etc.; these are the films that people are familiar with because he appeared in them. However, the actor admitted that in the middle of the 1980s, his agents had suggested he change his name.
Keanu Reeves recalls being told his name was ‘too ethnic’
During his appearance on the SmartLess podcast, actor Keanu Reeves recalled what it was like to start acting in the mid-1980s and remembered that his agents at the time advised him to change his name because it sounded ‘too ethnic’.
He was annoyed by the remark and said,
“I remember I had driven across the country and I remember they told me… I was driving up and down along the beach in Santa Monica going, ‘What the f*ck?'”
But listening to his agents, Reeves tried to change his name and used the initials of his first and middle name; Keanu Charles, which was Casey Reeves.
He further said,
“But then I had auditions and they’d be like, ‘Casey?’ and I wouldn’t even look up. Eventually, I went back to my agents and I was like, ‘I can’t change my name.’ One of the first plays I ever did, I was playing John Procter and one of the lines is like, ‘Because it is my name, because I can have no other,’ and that was just running through my head.”
He spoke about him attempting to change his name when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and pointed out that when he told his agents that he was not going to change his name, they weren’t impressed, but eventually it was Reeves who had to live with that name.
Keanu Reeves shares about another Keanu he met
Back in 2014, Keanu Reeves appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live where he was asked if he has ever met another Keanu because his name is unique, to which he revealed that he has a cousin who is also named Keanu.
The actor said,
“I have a cousin. I’m Hawaiian. Everyone’s got a cousin. And there’s a cousin Keanu I met when I was a kid. … But I didn’t meet that guy until I was about eight or nine. So I’d never heard that name of another human until that moment. And I was just like, ‘Wow. Okay, Keanu.’ I’d never met a Keanu before.”
Keanu Reeves reunites with Dogstar
The actor has reunited with his friends from the alternative rock band; Dogstar, in which he is the bassist and one of the founders. The band, who reunited after 23 years, recently released their new single Everything Turns Around, and are looking forward to releasing their comeback album Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees.
Dogstar consists of Reeves, Bret Domrose (vocalist), and Rob Mailhouse (drummer). The band also announced that the group will embark on a new tour that will begin in North America and travel to Canada and Japan. Keanu and the rest of the group thanked fans on social media for the single’s overwhelmingly positive reception, saying that it only motivates them to perform more and work on new material.
Dogstar was formed in 1991 and was active till 2002 before they split up and Reeves went ahead to pursue his acting career while the others worked on independent projects. Dogstar was seen playing in front of a big audience recently and since then, they have not stopped.
Source: CheatSheet
