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THE REAL REASON LEONARDO DICAPRIO WAS TOLD TO CHANGE HIS NAME
By MATTHEW WILSON
Leonardo DiCaprio is an instantly recognizable name, so it may surprise you that when he first started acting, an agent told the young star that his name sounded too "ethnic." The agent wanted 11-year-old DiCaprio to change his name to Lenny Williams, in order to guarantee career success — but as you can guess, DiCaprio refused.
DiCaprio had to wait two years to find another agent who would accept his real name, which is inspired by another great Leonardo: Leonardo da Vinci. DiCaprio told NPR that his parents "were looking at a da Vinci painting, and allegedly I started kicking furiously while my mother was pregnant. And my father took that as a sign".
Leonardo DiCaprio likely doesn't regret his refusal to change his name, as he found career success early on, starring in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "Romeo + Juliet," then put his first huge mark on cinematic history with his role in "Titanic." He finally won an Oscar for Best Actor in 2016 for “The Revenant.”