Leonardo DiCaprio reveals an agent once told him to change his name early in his career because his was "too ethnic"

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"I go, 'What do you mean, it’s Leonardo DiCaprio?'"

Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob in One Battle After Another
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed he could have had a stage name after an agent told him he needed to change his name early in his career – because it was "too ethnic."

"I finally got an agent [and] they said, 'Your name is too ethnic,'" DiCaprio said during an appearance on the New Heights podcast.

"I go, 'What do you mean, it’s Leonardo DiCaprio?' They go, 'No, too ethnic. They’re never going to hire you… Your new name is Lenny Williams,'" he continued. "I was 12, 13, I said, 'What’s Lenny Williams?'… 'Well, we took your middle name [Wilhelm] and we made it your [last name]. Now you're Lenny.'"

Emily Garbutt
Emily Garbutt
Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related. I help bring you all the latest news, features, and reviews, as well as helming our Big Screen Spotlight column. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.

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