Leonardo DiCaprio Might Be Ready for Marriage: "It's Gonna Happen When It's Gonna Happen"

Wolf of Wall Street actor confirms he almost changed his stage name to Lenny Williams on CBS This Morning

By Zach Johnson Feb 20, 2014 3:58 PMTags
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Great Gatsby PremiereStephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Leonardo DiCaprio's days as a bachelor may be numbered.

The Wolf of Wall Street actor sat down with CBS This Morning's Gayle King Thursday, where he admitted that he's coming around to the idea of settling down permanently. "Everybody wants you to get married. And by 'everybody,' I mean, me," the weekday anchor told her celebrity guest.

"Really?" DiCaprio, 39, asked. "You do, too?"

"I do," King said. "When you're ready. Is it something you even envision for yourself? I've read different things about how you feel about it. I'm curious."

"The truth is, it's gonna happen when it's gonna happen," the actor said. "I'm just gonna let it happen naturally. I really am. That's the only way to do it, I feel. And when it's right, it's gonna be right."

King, who was seemingly unaware of the actor's serious relationship with 21-year-old model Toni Garrn, then asked, "Do you need my help in fixing you up with anyone? Or you're good?"

DiCaprio smiled and replied, "I'm all right. I'm good for now."

His love life aside, DiCaprio discussed The Wolf of Wall Street, which is nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. King asked him how he prepared to play the lead character in Martin Scorsese's dark comedy, which is based on Jordan Belfort's memoir of the same name—specifically relating to the drug-related scenes.

"I'd spent many months with Jordan Belfort, interviewing him. And he described this sort of disconnect between your brain and your body," DiCaprio said. "And you have every intention of moving forward and thinking you're articulate. And you have the same motivations, just, your body doesn't respond."

Additionally, DiCaprio said, "There was this other video that I watched obsessively called The Drunkest Men in the World that was on YouTube, where a guy was tryin' to get a beer and wouldn't stop."

The actor said he's never done drugs, which King found somewhat surprising given how prevalent they seem to be in Hollywood. "I think there's always an interest and a desire. But I really grew up around that. I mean, it was on my street corner. Every time I would go to the corner marketplace there were addicts everywhere—in the alleyways, people shooting up, people offering me drugs at 4 or 5 years old," Dicaprio recalled. "I saw it at a very, very early age. And I was just sort of horrified by how it affected people. And so, thankfully I've never dabbled in that area. And I have—I've had—no desire."

King also asked DiCaprio if he really considered changing his stage name to Lenny Williams as a kid.

"It was true," the actor admitted. "I was a break dancer at the time and I had this sort of step haircut. I was a pop locker, which I had displayed in this movie and, you know, that was what was cool about doing this movie. I could draw upon certain things in my own experience...They wanted might to change my name to Lenny Williams because they said it would sound less ethnic and I would be able to get more roles. And my dad said, 'Don't you dare do that.'"