Bratt: 'I Am Sam'

Actor Benjamin Bratt had a confused childhood, because thought his name was SAM until he was nine years old.

The TRAFFIC star insisted that all of his friends and relatives call him Sam after his father gave him the nickname, and he didn't realise it wasn't his true moniker until years later.

He says, "Apparently, when I was about three years old, my father used to call people by different names. So once day he called me Sam and I said, 'My name is Sam, call me Sam now.'

"That afternoon, apparently, he called my brother, peter, Sam. I said, 'He's not Sam, I'm Sam. Call me Sam!'

"So when my parents got divorced, for the next four years or so, I called myself Sam and I made people call me Sam. It wasn't until I enrolled into fourth grade and I saw the school application and it said, 'Benjamin George Bratt' (that I realised Sam wasn't my name).

"I said, "Well, where's Sam? My mom said, 'Your name is not Sam.' So I changed it from that point forward."