Dore Schary was then head of the studio and he wanted to change my name.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I suspect that a lot of studio executives still think of me as 'what's-his-name'.
I was never in the business of trying to put my name out there - I was really focused on music and records and being in the studio.
I was an original member of the Actors' Studio.
When I first got out of drama school, my original manager tried to get me to change my name because people were having trouble spelling it and saying it.
David Holdaway was my stage name. I was an actor for about eight years in the '90s. I had to change my name because there was another David Nicholls, and I thought if I changed it to my mother's name, she'd be touched.
It's weird what a last name will do. I changed it to 'Milian,' and next thing you know, I was working and getting auditions and stuff, and it was crazy.
I joined the Actors Studio and began to work with Lee Strasberg, and that changed my work.
Schaeffer gave me permission to work in the studio with a technician, but I've never worked with him.
Changing my name was traumatic for me.
I wanted to take on my full name, which was sort of a crazy thing to do considering that we're in Hollywood.