Today, my roommate was showing me a page in the recent "US Weekly" that showed 12 actors/actresses and their real names. Luke Perry's real first name is Coy, Miley Cyrus' real name is Destiny, Reese Witherspoon's real name is Laura, and Jude Law's real name is David.
It made me wonder why stars choose to change their names it all. I guess if their names are hard to pronounce to begin with it makes sense. But most actors probably change them because they think that their new names will sound better or more unique. It made me realize how much an actor's stage name contributes in creating an entire persona. If Tom Cruise went by his real last name, Mapother, I have a feeling it may effect the way we think of him. Then again, I don't see the difference between "Jodie Foster" and "Alicia Foster" in terms of uniqueness, which makes me wonder how stars go about picking a new name to begin with. Thinking about it, few stars in Hollywood even have the same name. That can help people in pop culture refer to stars as "Paris," "Lindsay," "Britney, "Miley" etc. It just further shows how much an actor puts on a facade and a face to the public; it is to the point where they change their names to sound more likable and attractive. It makes me wonder, if you were a star, would you change your name or keep it?
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It's interesting that some changed their names from "plain" names to more uncommon names, like Laura to Reese, whereas some change from uncommon to common, like Coy to Luke. I don't really know what to make of that... I would think celebrities would want to have unusual names to stand out.
With Britney, Lindsey, and other one-namers, however, their names tend to be really common (Paris is an exception, of course) and I think that has the effect of making other little girls with the same name feel like they relate to them and could possibly be big stars someday too.
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