Leonardo DiCaprio was once told to change his name.
![Leonardo DiCaprio](/image-library/partners/bang/land/1000/l/leonardo-dicaprio-aa5a938b2748b45847dc2b237c160cb75499f31e.jpg)
Leonardo DiCaprio
The 'Revenant' star was just 11-years-old when an agent suggested he changed his name to Lenny Williams as his birth moniker was "too ethnic" and might stop him getting work.
He recalled: "Yeah, when I was 11 years old, when I first wanted to be an actor professionally. We went to an agent and they wanted to change my name to Lenny Williams.
"They felt my name was too ethnic and I wouldn't get as many jobs. So that thwarted me from being an actor for a number of years. I tried again two years later when I was 13 and got an agent to accept me with my name."
The 41-year-old actor also insisted he never got into acting for fame's sake and has just wanted to produce good films.
He told ShortList magazine: "A lot of people may look at what I've done career-wise and say that there was a period in which I tried to possibly become a movie star, per se, [and] tried to go for much bigger pictures.
"The truth of the matter is, there was a period of time, very early on, when I started watching films and having heroes in the industry, actor-wise. But I feel I've been consistent about my dreams and what I wanted to be as an actor."
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