While filming the 2013 comedy movie The Art of the Steal, Russell told Red Notice star Chis Diamantopoulos to change his name so it’s easier to pronounce and remember. “Kurt and I became really friendly and he was a real chum on set. And he said to me, ‘Listen, I think you’re a great actor. I love working with you. I think you’ve got a big career ahead of you. You’ve got to change your name’,” Diamantopoulos tells The Hollywood Reporter. “He said, ‘It’s too long. It’s too long.’ And I was like, ‘I know, I know, but I’ve already been acting for 25 years’.”
Russell doubled-down, asking he changed to “Chris D”, according to Diamantopoulos, who concedes the Fast and Furious and Marvel Cinematic Universe actor might have had a point. “I didn’t listen to him, but maybe I should’ve,” he says.
Things have worked out for Diamantopoulos regardless. He’d have a recurring role in comedy TV series Silicon Valley, featured in action movie Red Notice, which had Netflix’s biggest opening ever, and has a part in Kevin Hart’s mini-series True Story.
Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, Red Notice’s success has made the sequel a sure thing. If it comes to pass, Thurber hopes to make it a trilogy because wrangling the likes of Johnson, Reynolds, and Gadot together isn’t easy. Diamantopoulos might get to reappear, since his character, Sotto Voce, survived the hijinks.