Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro reveal they almost changed their names early in their careers, in first podcast appearance

Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro both made their first ever podcast appearance overnight, speaking to NFL brothers Jason and Travis Kelce on New Heights.

The actors were talking about the early days of their careers in the show's "holy s--t segment and boy, DiCaprio did not disappoint.

The Titanic star revealed he used to be a break dancing busker as a kid and that agents changed his name when he first started in the biz, saying his actual name was "too ethnic".

"They said, 'Your name is too ethnic,'" he said, recalling the chat with an agent when he was about 12 or 13 years old.

"I go, 'What do mean? It's Leonardo DiCaprio.' They go, 'No, too ethnic. They're never gonna hire you. Your new name is Lenny Williams.'"

He explained they'd created the new surname from his middle name Wilhelm.

The new name was written on the bottom of his first headshots but his dad wasn't allowing the name change to happen.

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"My dad saw this photo, ripped it up, and he said, 'Over my dead body.'"

The Kelce boys were floored by the story but del Toro got it instantly, saying he too was advised to use a different moniker.

"I had the same thing, they said 'now you're Benny Del," del Toro said.

The pair were on the podcast to promote their new movie One Battle After Another, with the Kelce brothers joking the episode wouldn't have been the same with Lenny and Benny.

Jason pointed out the agents are now probably the ones having "holy s--t" moments, with DiCaprio taking home an Oscar for The Revenant in 2016 and del Toro winning Best Supporting Actor for Traffic at the 2001 Oscars.

DiCaprio broke into acting at the age of 14, appearing in TV sitcom Growing Pains from 1991 to 1992 before starring opposite Robert De Niro in This Boy's Life in 1993.

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Del Toro admitted he came to acting much later in life, while at university.

In the years since, he's amassed an array of roles in a number of big name movie, including Sicario, Guardians of the Galaxy and The French Dispatch.

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