Los Angeles: Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed that in his early days he was advised to change his name because it was considered “too ethnic” for Hollywood.
The 50-year-old star said his first agent told him he would never be hired unless he changed it. Speaking on the New Heights podcast, DiCaprio recalled: “I go, ‘What do you mean, it’s Leonardo DiCaprio?’ They go, ‘No, too ethnic. They’re never going to hire you.’”
He added that the agent even suggested an alternative. “Your new name is Lenny Williams'. I said, ‘What is Lenny?’ … ‘We took your middle name (Wilhelm) and we made it your (last name). Now you’re Lenny.’”
However, DiCaprio said his father, George, quickly rejected the idea. “My dad saw his photo, ripped it up, and he said, ‘Over my dead body’” reports femalefirst.co.uk.
The Oscar-winning actor turned 50 in November 2024 and has since spoken about embracing greater honesty in life. In an interview with Esquire UK, he said: “It (turning 50) creates a feeling like you have a desire to just be more honest and not waste your time. I can only imagine how the next few decades are going to progress. I look at my mother, for example, and she just says exactly what she thinks and wastes no time. She spends no time trying to fake it.”
DiCaprio added that while being more direct risks disagreements or relationships ending, he sees it as a responsibility. “Being more upfront and risking having things fall apart or risking the disagreements or risking going your separate ways from any type of relationship in life — the personal, the professional — it’s that you don’t want to waste your time any more. You have to just be much more upfront. It’s almost a responsibility, because much more of your life is behind you than it is ahead of you,” he said.