The Oscar winner recently revealed that he was originally told his name was “too ethnic” and advised by one of his early agents to perform under a stage name, which brought a strong reaction out of his father.
“I finally got an agent. They said, ‘Your name is too ethnic,’” he recounted 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.‘”
DiCaprio added, “I said, ‘What is Lenny?’ I was 12,13. I said, ‘What is Lenny Williams?’ ‘We took your middle name and we made it — now you’re Lenny.’”
The One Battle After Another star recalled to his co-star Benicio del Toro that…
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