For actors, names are brands.
So while it’s common for up-and-comers to change their name prior to beginning their
career -- After all, you probably wouldn’t have gone to see Mission: Impossible if it
starred “Thomas Mapother IV” -- it usually doesn’t happen after they’ve appeared
in a film or two.
Still, there are exceptions to every rule.
Here are 10 Actors Who Started Their Career Without Their Iconic Name.
And if you want to see more lists like this, just click on the “subscribe” button,
and we’ll send them straight your way.
The Rock to Dwayne Johnson Wrestling fans know that Dwayne Johnson used
to be “The Rock,” the musclebound People’s Champion of the WWE.
And when Johnson made his film debut in The Mummy Returns, he was credited simply as “The
Rock,” which carried over into his starring roles in The Scorpion King, The Rundown, and
Walking Tall.
For 2006’s Gridiron Gang, he began to get credited as “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson,”
but it wasn’t until Get Smart in 2008 that he dropped his nickname -- at least on movie
posters.
It doesn’t seem to have slowed him down any, and he still makes appearances on WWE.
Marky Mark to Mark Wahlberg Before getting nominated for an Oscar for
his role in The Departed and opening a burger chain with his Wahlberg brothers, Mark Wahlberg
was… a rapper?
That’s right, Wahlberg began his showbiz career as Marky Mark, frontman for Marky Mark
and the Funky Bunch.
After one hit single, “Good Vibrations,” his career took a downturn, but it was saved
by a popular series of boxer brief commercials for Calvin Klein.
No, we’re not making this up.
After a few small TV roles as “Marky Mark,” Wahlberg started going by his real name in
the Danny DeVito comedy Renaissance Man.
Rebecca Romijn to Rebbeca Romijn-Stamos and back
Rebecca Romijn began her modelling career in 1991, when she was just 18 years old.
Though she had a couple of roles under this name -- including a bit part in an episode
of Friends -- she changed her name when she married Full House star John Stamos in 1998.
It was under the name “Rebecca Romijn-Stamos” that she starred in the X-Men franchise, which
made her a household name for nerds everywhere.
When she divorced Stamos in 2005, however, she dropped the name again, going back to
“Rebecca Romijn.”
Can you blame her?
We wouldn’t want to be Mrs. Uncle Jesse for the rest of our lives either.
Courteney Cox to Courteney Cox Arquette and back
Courteney Cox is another actress who changed her name after getting married.
She started her acting career in the 80s, and even made an early appearance in the music
video for Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.”
But she got her big break with the television show Friends, one of the biggest shows of
the 90s.
In 1999, Cox married her Scream co-star David Arquette, and began going by the professional
name Courteney Cox Arquette.
When ads for the sitcom Cougar Town dropped the “Arquette” from her name in 2009,
people began to wonder if trouble was brewing and sure enough, the Arquettes announced their
separation in 2010.
Arnold Strong to Arnold Schwarzenegger Before becoming an all-American action star,
Arnold Schwarzenegger got his first taste of fame as an Austrian bodybuilder in the
late ‘60s and early ‘70s.
He parlayed this fame into an early starring role in the low budget comedy Hercules in
New York, which credited him as “Arnold Strong.”
His accent was so thick at the time that his lines were dubbed over.
The movie bombed and put his showbusiness career on pause until 1977’s Pumping Iron,
a documentary about his bodybuilding career.
He gave acting another go with 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, this time credited under his
real, name, and it was a smash success.
Leaf Phoenix to Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Phoenix’s name has changed a few
times.
He was born in Peurto Rico as Joaquin Rafael Bottom while his parents were members of a
cult called the Children of God.
When his family left the cult, they changed their last name to “Phoenix” to symbolize
a rebirth, and Joaquin began going by the first name “Leaf” to match the nature-themed
names of his siblings: River, Rain, and Summer.
When he began acting in the 80s, he was credited as “Leaf Phoenix.”
But after a six year break, he returned to big screen as “Joaquin” in 1995’s To
Die For and it’s stayed the same ever since.
Larry Fishburne to Laurence Fishburne Laurence Fishburne, well known for his role
as Morpheus in the Matrix films, began his acting career as a teenager, and went by the
name Larry.
In one of his first major roles, “Larry” played “Clean” in Francis Ford Coppola’s
Apocalypse Now.
After that, he switched between Larry Fishburne and “Laurence Fishburne III” before finally
settling on “Laurence Fishburne” in 1993.
The first movie to use that credit was What’s Love Got To Do With It, where he played R&B
star Ike Turner in a film about his abusive relationship toward wife Tina Turner.
That film also landed Fishburne his only Oscar nomination.
Jean Norman to Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortensen,
but that name didn’t even last her until adulthood.
At 16, she was married and adopted her first husband’s name, Dougherty.
Famously, she was discovered by a photographer while working at a munitions factory during
WWII, and she began modeling under the name “Jean Norman” shortly after.
She came up with her most iconic name in 1946 when she was signed to 20th Century Fox.
Apparently, she reminded an executive of Broadway star Marilyn Miller.
Paired with her mother’s maiden name, she became Marilyn Monroe… and the rest is history.
Nicolas Coppola to Nicolas Cage It’s pretty well-known that Nicolas Cage
belongs to the famous Coppola family, and that Cage is the nephew of famed filmmaker
Francis Ford Coppola.
He was even credited as “Nicolas Coppola” for his bit role in Fast Times at Ridgemont
High, but when his first starring role in Valley Girl came around, he changed his name
to Cage.
Why was that?
Well, he wanted avoid the appearance of nepotism, so he named himself after Marvel superhero
Luke Cage.
Nevertheless, he still went on to work with his uncle on the films Rumble Fish and Peggy
Sue Got Married.
Lisa Munn to Olivia Munn Born Lisa Olivia Munn, this actress went by
her first name for her first few years in Hollywood, picking up such prestigious roles
as “Girl #1” in Scarecrows Gone Wild and “Asian Mob Girl” in The Road to Canyon
Lake, but when she got her break as Mily Acuna in the surfing TV series Beyond the Break,
she started going by her middle name Olivia, and that’s how she gained fame as a co-host
of G4’s Attack of the Show.
Since then, she’s made name for herself on HBO’s The Newsroom and recently starred
a Psylocke in X-Men: Apocalypse, so “Olivia” seems to be working out for her.
So what do you think of our list?
Who else changed their name mid-career?
Join the discussion in the comments below, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more
videos like this one.