[custom_adv] She's worked with the likes of Ridley Scott, Jim Jarmusch and Asghar Farhadi. She was the first actress to star in a Hollywood film after the 1979 revolution and the first to appear in an Israeli movie. Golshifteh Farahani speaks to Eve Jackson about her new movie “Arab Blues” where she plays a psychoanalyst trying to set up a practice in Tunisia after the Arab Spring. [custom_adv] You might not have ever heard of “Maurice Micklewhite,” “Olivia Jane Cockburn” or “Diane Hall” — but you’ve certainly heard of the actors who were born with these names. When the Hollywood system started, people commonly took simplified versions of their names to make them easier for people to say. [custom_adv] Doris Day is much simpler than “Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff” and Clayton Holmes Grissom picked “Clay Aiken” when signing up for American Idol — because it was just more memorable. [custom_adv] You would be surprised to know that the names by which you knew some of your favourite celebrities, aren't their real names at all. These celebrities were born with names that eventually got replaced with their 'screen names' that made them famous. Take a look at the pre-fame names of some famous celebrities. [custom_adv] Reese Witherspoon, John Legend, Bruno Mars, Rihanna—it's as if these celebrities were destined to make it big in Hollywood from the moment their parents signed their birth certificate. [custom_adv] But as it turns out, some of the most acclaimed household names weren't born with the golden ticket to stardom. Instead, they paved their own ways, often adopting a stage name to help open doors. Ahead, 42 of the most well-known celebs who actually go by pseudonyms, plus the stories behind when and why they chose to forgo their birth names. [custom_adv] You might not have ever heard of “Maurice Micklewhite,” “Olivia Jane Cockburn” or “Diane Hall” — but you’ve certainly heard of the actors who were born with these names. When the Hollywood system started, people commonly took simplified versions of their names to make them easier for people to say. [custom_adv] You would be surprised to know that the names by which you knew some of your favourite celebrities, aren't their real names at all. These celebrities were born with names that eventually got replaced with their 'screen names' that made them famous. Take a look at the pre-fame names of some famous celebrities.