Brandon Sklenar has been steadily making it to the top of movie credits, but not with the name he had growing up.
In a recent interview with People, the “1923” actor revealed that the name fans know him by isn’t the one he had as a child in his New Jersey hometown. The 34-year-old was born Brandon Feakins — a name passed down from his father, Bruce Feakins. His professional name, Sklenar, comes from his mother, Francine.
“I took it because growing up, everyone would always mispronounce my last name,” he explained.”And it drove me absolutely crazy.”
Instead of a random stage moniker, the actor said he settled on something that had more personal meaning.
“So I also didn’t want to pick something completely arbitrary that meant nothing,” he added. “So I took my mother’s maiden name because it was real.”
Still, the actor recognizes that his self-chosen stage name comes with some pronunciation hurdles. Some are still learning that its proper pronunciation is Skluh-NAHR.
“But I could deal with that because I didn’t grow up with it being mispronounced,” he noted. “It was like an adult thing.”
“And now the more people are getting to know who I am, it’s happening less and less,” he added. “But I just couldn’t live with the other one being mispronounced in a public forum, because I would lose my mind because I just grew up with it constantly.”
The actor, who stars in the upcoming film “Drop,” which releases April 11, 2025, is far from the first to choose a different name as an actor. For example, “Poor Little Things” actor Emma Stone changed her name for the marquee from Emily Stone in order to register with SAG-AFTRA. Ariana Grande only recently chose to have her real name reflected on-screen with Ariana Grande-Butera displayed in the “Wicked” credits. And legend Michael Caine was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite but settled on the name we know early in his career, according to Vanity Fair.
