Leonardo DiCaprio’s early struggles in Hollywood are the stuff of legend, but a newly resurfaced story offers fresh insight into the industry’s long history of gatekeeping and cultural bias.
During a recent appearance on the New Heights podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce, DiCaprio—one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars—revealed he couldn’t get an agent for a long time, but when he finally got one, his first agent advised him he wouldn’t succeed in show business due to his real name. The agent suggested he adopt the stage name “Lenny Williams,” saying “your name is too ethnic” and telling a then-13-year-old DiCaprio, “you’re never going to be hired.”
When DiCaprio asked, “What is Lenny Williams?” his agent apparently responded, “We took your middle name and made it your last name. Now your first name is Lenny.”
DiCaprio’s father, George, apparently hated the agent’s move. Upon seeing a fresh headshot of his son with the name “Lenny Williams,” DiCaprio said his father tore it up, saying, “Over my dead body.”
Things ended up working out pretty well for DiCaprio, who shot to fame as a teenager on Growing Pains, earned his first Oscar nomination at age 19 for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and later headlined international blockbusters Romeo + Juliet and Titanic.
DiCaprio’s experience, of course, is not isolated. During the same New Heights podcast episode, DiCaprio’s co-star for the new Paul Thomas Anderson film One Battle After Another, Benicio Del Toro, said he received similar advice—to become “Benny Del”—from his own agent. Both actors said these moments shaped their resolve.
The persistence of stage name pressure is a window into Hollywood’s outsized influence on personal branding. Countless artists—from Whoopi Goldberg to Jamie Foxx and Lady Gaga—have rebranded themselves to navigate opportunities and biases.
You can watch the full interview with DiCaprio below. He joins the program around the 53-minute mark, and talks about this harrowing moment of his early career around the 1-hour, 17-minute mark.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
