Should that bloke from 12 Years a Slave have changed his name?

Of course he shouldn’t. Though movie stars swapping their names for more memorable monikers was once completely normal. The same was also true of pop stars. The man we’ve always known as “Cliff Richard” is actually called Harry Webb. Terence Nelhams was re-named Adam Faith but I think Ronald Wycherley, re-branded as Billy Fury, got the best name of all. This tradition has now disappeared, maybe because adopting a stage name suggests that an artist’s real name is something to be ashamed of. And this would seem especially wrong for a magnificent actor like Chiwetel Ejiofor. Trouble is, that name is really hard to remember. Even harder than Archibald Leach or Maurice Micklewhite. Their careers might have suffered if they hadn’t become Cary Grant and Michael Caine respectively. I just hope the same doesn’t happen to…oh God…..what was his name again…?