Leonardo DiCaprio made a surprising revelation about his early days in Hollywood during his appearance on Wednesday’s episode of New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. The 50-year-old actor shared that a former agent suggested he change his name to improve his odds of making it in Hollywood. The actor, who is of Italian and German descent, was told that his name was "too ethnic" and that producers were "never going to hire" him. Leonardo’s agent suggested he adopt the name "Lenny Williams" – a blend of his first name and his middle name, Wilhelm.
However, the idea didn’t sit well with Leonardo’s father, George DiCaprio. According to Leonardo, when his father saw the headshot bearing the new name, he "ripped it up" and declared, "Over my dead body."
© Getty ImagesIt seems adopting a stage name is common practice in Hollywood, as Leonardo’s One Battle After Another co-star, Benicio Del Toro, shared a similar story on the podcast. The 58-year-old shared that he was given the name "Benny Del". "This podcast would not be the same with Lenny Williams and Benny Del," replied Jason.
© Getty ImagesLeonardo also opened up about the rejection he faced during the early years of his career. The actor admitted that an agent once lined him up "like cattle" and told him "no". "I was a breakdancer. I breakdanced for, like, money on the street sometimes, so I had, like, the step haircut," he explained. "I remember saying to my dad, 'This is horrible,' and I went back and they did it again."
Leonardo and Benicio's new film One Battle After Another hits theaters on September 26. In Paul Thomas Anderson's comedy, Leonardo portrays a washed-up revolutionary stoner called Bob who has a self-reliant daughter named Willa.
"[Bob] doesn’t necessarily make the right choices, and is then left on his own to raise this child and is completely ill-equipped. He's haunted by his past. Perfidia leaves a wake of carnage through every character in this movie, and he's trying to be a father and failing miserably," share Leo. "It's not this utopian happy villager set-up. It's a father disconnecting with his daughter. He's a disaster of a father, and then, all of a sudden, he's put into this wild circumstance to try to save her."
"Just the imagination of this world where he's [Paul] pushing these extremes; but it's also so topical and holding up a mirror to society right now,"' Leo said of the movie. "I would have done anything Paul asked me to do, but this felt incredibly pertinent to where we are as a society. I love the idea of this ex-revolutionary trying to connect with his daughter. He doesn't have a phone and she lives off a generational miscommunication between them. He's trying to be a good dad, but he's failing at every stop. He doesn't know how to do it."
