The world might never have known Leonardo DiCaprio, at least not under his real name. Early in his career, the actor was strongly advised to change it.
Leonardo first spoke about this on the New Heights podcast of the brothers Travis and Jason Kelsey.
The 50-year-old actor shared his memories that at the age of 12-13, he actively went to castings, but did not get roles. When the first agent appeared, he immediately advised the future star to take a pseudonym. Otherwise, in his opinion, Leonardo was waiting for failure because of the too-long and “ethnic” name, People reports.
The agent advised him to take the pseudonym Lenny Williams, after Leonardo’s middle name, Wilhelm.
However, the DiCaprio family categorically did not support this idea. And it was thanks to his father’s persistence that the future Hollywood legend retained his name, which the whole world knows today.