10 Hollywood Actors Names You Don't Really Know

Real Name: Joaquin Bottom

Though you might think Joaquin changed his surname to avoid becoming the butt (pardon the pun) of many a joke in his acting career, it was actually his parents who made the decision to give he and his siblings – including his late actor brother, River (River Bottom, lol) – a new family name.

After a stint working as missionaries across the US and South America for religious hippie cult Children of God, the family quit cult life and took on the name Phoenix to symbolise their rebirth as non-cult members like the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes.

At the tender age of four, young Joaquin decided to change his first name too opting for Leaf to fit in with the earthier, more hippie-like names of the rest of his siblings (Rain, River, Liberty and Summer) and was credited as Leaf Phoenix during his early TV and film career before going back to Joaquin Phoenix in his teens.