Career
1984–1990: Early work
Reeves in 1986
In 1984, Reeves was a correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) youth television program Going Great.[31] That same year, he made his acting debut in an episode of the television series, called Hangin’ In.[32] In 1985, he played Mercutio in a stage production of Romeo and Juliet at the Leah Posluns Theatre in North York, Ontario.[33][34] He made further appearances on stage, including Brad Fraser’s cult hit Wolfboy in Toronto. He also appeared in a Coca-Cola commercial in 1983,[35] and in the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) coming-of-age, short film One Step Away.[36] Reeves later said that, when he was looking for work in the mid-1980s, his agents advised him to go by a different name because his first name was “too ethnic”. He briefly initialized his first and middle name and attended auditions as “K. C.” or “Casey” Reeves before reverting to Keanu.[37]
