Brandon Sklenar‘s rise to prominence in Hollywood comes with an interesting detail about his identity — the name audiences know him by isn’t his birth name.
In a candid conversation with People, the “1923” star disclosed that his current professional name differs from the one he had in his New Jersey hometown. The 34-year-old actor entered the world as Brandon Feakins, inheriting the surname from his father, Bruce Feakins. His current surname, Sklenar, originates from his mother Francine’s side of the family.
“I took it because growing up, everyone would always mispronounce my last name,” he explained. “And it drove me absolutely crazy.”
The actor’s choice of a new name wasn’t arbitrary but rather stemmed from personal significance.
“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.”
Even his chosen surname presents some pronunciation challenges, with people learning that it’s properly pronounced as 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 appears in the forthcoming film Drop, releasing April 11, 2025, joins a distinguished list of performers who’ve adopted different names professionally. Take Poor Little Things star Emma Stone, who changed her name from Emily Stone for SAG-AFTRA registration purposes. Ariana Grande recently embraced her full name, Ariana Grande-Butera, in the Wicked credits. Additionally, screen legend Michael Caine, born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, established his well-known moniker early in his career.
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