Leonardo DiCaprio tells how his agent almost gave him a new name.
Today Leonardo DiCaprio is a name that stands for Hollywood glamor, Oscar-Ruhm and countless iconic roles worldwide. But the actor almost started his career under a completely different name and only because his first agent considered his real name to be “too ethnic”.
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Williams instead of dicaprio
In the podcast “New Heights” by Travis and Jason Kelce, DiCaprio told that he was suggested as a twelve or thirteen-year-olds to act as Lenny Williams in the future. “You said: ‘Your name is too ethnic. You will never hire you.’ And I just thought: ‘What does that mean?
The agency’s supposedly better proposal: Williams should become Williams from its middle name Wilhelm. For DiCaprio, however, this was anything but understandable. And his father George immediately made it clear that he would not tolerate the change of name. “My dad saw a photo with this name, tore it into pieces and said: ‘About my body’,” said DiCaprio in the podcast.
Benicio del Toro was also recommended for a different name
In addition to DiCaprio, his “One Battle After Another” co-star Benicio del Toro, who shared a similar story, was sitting in the podcast: he was also advised to perform as Benny Del. Moderator Jason Kelce then joked: “Imagine this conversation here would be with Lenny Williams and Benny Del.”
In retrospect, the fact that DiCaprio kept his birth name was probably the right decision: with roles in “Gilbert Grape” (1993), “Romeo + Juliet” (1996) and at the latest with “Titanic” (1997) he became a superstar and his name himself.
DiCaprio was named after Leonardo da Vinci
Curiosity on the side: As the actor told in an interview with “NPR” years ago, he owes his first name to an art encounter in the Uffizien Museum in Florence. While his mother looked at a painting by Leonardo da Vinci there, she felt the first kicks of her unborn son in her stomach. “My father took it as a sign and so I became Leonardo,” said Dicaprio.
New projects
DiCaprio is currently standing in front of the camera with Jennifer Lawrence for the film adaptation of “What Happens at Night” by Peter Cameron. Martin Scorcese takes over the direction for the film. According to “Deadline”, DiCaprio consciously chosen this project and against other offers, including a planned Evel Knievel-Biopic by Damien Chazelle. At the same time, his new film “One Battle After Another” starts in the cinemas, staged by Paul Thomas Anderson on September 25, 2025.