Leonardo DiCaprio: Early Acting Journey and Experiences

Leonardo DiCaprio's early experiences in show business reveal his passion and excitement for acting from a young age.

### Leonardo DiCaprio: From Childhood Fame to Acting Wisdom
* 🎬 Leonardo DiCaprio shares that he doesn't handle his taxes, as his mom takes care of them, and he confidently states, "**My mom's very reliable**."
* 🍽 When offered a steak dinner, he politely declines, shifting the conversation to his unique name, which he describes as **"rhythmic" and "poetic."**
* 🗣 DiCaprio recounts his early attempts to get an agent at just six years old, revealing that they wanted to change his name to "**Lenny Williams**" because they found his original name "**too ethnic**".
* 📺 His first experience on television was at three years old on the show "Romper Room," where he was so excited that he was **kicked off for being too disruptive**.
* 🎥 Reflecting on his film "This Boy's Life," he praises Robert De Niro's **professionalism** and shares a humorous anecdote about a scene that kept the cast in **stitches**, leading to a lesson on **maintaining professionalism**.
* 🐶 DiCaprio's first legitimate acting role was on the new "Lassie," where he learned about the **behind-the-scenes realities of filmmaking**, particularly during a scene that involved a **fake pregnancy for the dog**.
* 🤔 Despite his early experiences, DiCaprio expresses a sense of wisdom about the industry, noting his **disappointment with the artificiality** he encountered as a child actor.
* 💡 His journey from a playful child on television to a thoughtful actor showcases the **blend of excitement and reality** in the entertainment industry.

[Applause] Hey dude, I'm all right. How are you? Have you filed your income tax returns yet? No, I don't do my taxes. Oh, my mom does them for me. Is your mom reliable? My mom's very reliable. That's right. Good. Now, would you

like a steak dinner? Can we get you a nice big thick steak? No thanks, Steve. Tell me a little bit about your... your name if you don't mind. Leonardo DiCaprio. It is a very uh rhythmic, very poetic sort of sounding name. Very nice. Lovely.

Thank you. Thank you. Is there a story about that? Your parents have something to say? I do have a story about mine. Let me hear it. Well, the first time I got an agent uh, they thought my old... Were you... I was about uh six years old, seven years old. You got an

agent at six years old? I tried to get an agent, right? I didn't succeed because they wanted to change my name to uh, Lenny Williams. They thought my name was a little too ethnic, so they sort of dissected it and said, hey, Leonardo, Lenny, my middle name's

Wilhelm, so they changed that to Williams. Let's get back to your given name again. Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio. Wow, that's a good one. That's great. Thanks uh, and and why is it that your folks selected an Italian-sounding name

and then a German-sounding name? And you're... My mother's German, my dad's Italian. There you go. There's an answer for every story in this life. All part of God's great plan, isn't it? So when you... When you were six years old...

how did you get into show business? What were you, you just like going to school and then one day you said I want to be in show business? Well the first time I was actually on TV, I was on TV at about three years old. You've ever seen "Romper Room"?

that television show? Are you kidding? [Applause] Try and keep me away from "Romper Room"! Well it was my favorite show at the time and I I just absolutely loved the show and I used to sing the songs at home and everything. Let's hear one! And oh god...

come on, it's too far away. I can't remember one. Wilhelm, let's go buddy. So I went on "Romper Room", right, and I was completely excited. They had a little circle and they were all singing and dancing and stuff like that, but I was too excited to be on

camera, so I was running up and slapping the cameras and stuff like that and screaming and looking inside the camera, tried to pull my mom on stage and finally I was too much to handle so they completely kicked me off. You were 86? You were tossed? You were adios? I was

adios. And were you were your crestfallen? You must have been crushed when you got bounced off. No, no, no. I was really, I saw myself on television, I was just like, you went crazy. Yeah, neurotic. It was beautiful. That happens to me almost every night.

Right here? Are you really that sorry next? Yeah, oh my god. Um I saw uh the film you did with uh Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin, "This Boy's Life". Mm-hmm. That you know that was a great, I and I guess I and forgive me if...

this is the wrong term but it was a small sort of film it wasn't a huge budget with chase scenes and space made about eight million dollars I think it was uh but it was a very nice piece of work is what I was trying to say

based based on a book and and I thought that the the interaction between you and De Niro was especially entertaining I mean that was very interesting to watch was it a good you have a good relationship with him with the film I did Bobby De Niro was great you called him

Bobby there you go pal Robert De Niro was great I remember a scene we were doing actually uh where he had his did you see the Zippo scene or he's trying to like impress my mom played by Ellen Barkin and Allen found

this so hilarious he's got something he does with the lighters yeah he pops it open and you know does his whole thing and um Ellen as soon as she saw Robert De Niro do this she'd start cracking up immediately and the whole set was in

hysterics and towards like the 25th take I got a little agitated because I was usually one that was like getting the laughs or on set so I stand up and I go you know guys can we be a little more professional here you know you're laughing all the time

you know I got things to do I was a bit of a smart ass I was 16 years old I learned my lesson and Bob takes me aside and he goes you know there's a certain line you know with jokes he goes uh you know you shouldn't

cross that line because sometimes you can't get back that's right that's right so I sit there and I come back in my chair and my heart is like down down to my butt and I'm just sitting there yeah did I mess up and uh that's the reason

you'll never be back on Romper Room it goes it goes on your permanent record so two takes later he they nailed the scene and I uh I never actually figured out if he was really angry with me or if he wanted to just change the tempo I

have a feeling it was a little both but he forgave me for it actually at the end he took me out and uh we had a bunch of pies and stuff Now you talked about Romper Room and how you were tossed off and nearly arrested uh and then

what was like your first legitimate acting role as a kid did you want to be an actor or did you folks just say here to be an actor for a long time definitely my first dramatic real drama was on the new Lassie I think we have a clip of that but uh

I remember that I I'm supposed to be the one that tells the people that we have the clips How would you know anything about our clip inventory that's my responsibility I turn to the camera and I say we got a clip don't we Well anyway the funny thing about Lassie

was that uh we have a clamp Lassie was actually a female dog at last He's supposed to be a female Should be a female Yeah yeah Lassie lady lady would be the male Lassie's the female right Yeah so they had five different dogs that were all

guys to do the tricks I guess we have five different poles male dogs are smarter or something like that right What do you say I don't know I don't know what they're doing What are you doing The male dogs are smarter is that what

you say I don't know That's supposedly one was for the tricks one was for the expressions and this and that right So uh they had a big pregnancy scene where Lassie was giving puppies and uh I first realized how fast we first realized how fake I first

realized how fake the whole business was when they had to do the pregnancy scene because they had to tape over Lassie's you know you know I I know you're just a kid but you possess a wisdom and a maturity indescribable here

Dad to tape over Lassie's special fur and I was saying hey hey hey this ain't romper room okay I was a little shocked Yeah I was a little disappointed So uh disappointed were you Yeah Oh my gosh what aspect of that did

Leonardo DiCaprio Got A Shocking Look At Lassie | Letterman

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Letterman

Initial conversation and introduction of Leonardo DiCaprio

Casual conversation about taxes and preferences.

Introduction of Leonardo DiCaprio and his name's etymology.

Discussion about DiCaprio's early agent and near name change.

Inquiry about the origin of his parents' names and nationalities.

Early experiences in show business, specifically on "Romper Room"

DiCaprio's first TV appearance at age three on "Romper Room".

His over-excited behavior leading to removal from the show.

His reaction to being removed from the show and his television debut.

Discussion about DiCaprio's film "This Boy's Life" and working with Robert De Niro

Conversation about the film's success and his experience working with De Niro.

Details about his relationship with Robert De Niro on set.

Anecdote about a scene with De Niro and Ellen Barkin, and the humorous atmosphere on set.

DiCaprio's reaction to the constant laughter and De Niro's advice.

The resolution of the situation and De Niro's reaction.

DiCaprio's early acting roles and experiences

Discussion about his first legitimate acting role.

His experience on "Lassie" and the revelation of using multiple dogs.

Discussion about the use of multiple dogs for different scenes.

DiCaprio's realization of the artificiality of the filming process during a pregnancy scene.

His disappointment with the artificiality of the scene.