Benicio Del Toro
Benicio Del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sanchez, known professionally as Benicio Del Toro, is a Puerto Rican actor. He has won an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Javier Rodríguez in the film Traffic. He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects, Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Franky Four Fingers in Snatch, Jackie Boy in Sin City, Che Guevara in Che,...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth19 February 1967
CitySan Juan, PR
CountryUnited States of America
When you do a movie the clock is ticking. It's like a sport.
I've done a lot of movies, and you really never know. You do a movie and you think that it's great, and then you see it and it doesn't work.
There's something about the Oscar that gives you sort of stripes where you feel you can dare to walk into a studio like Universal and say, "Hey guys, how about an idea of me playing the wolf man?"
When you start to become a movie star it's easy to believe that you are Superman. That can fool you. That's why I prefer not to pay much attention to fame.
I mean I like most of the films that I've seen that I've been in. Those are the kind of films that I like to see. Am I getting better at making choices? Well, I think I might be getting better at reading scripts. Does that make any sense?
I think having a vision can make someone an influential man. I'm not talking about acting or anything like that, I'm talking about people I admire, whether it's a writer or a musician or a sports figure or a politician, whatever.
When I was a little kid, I was the first kid in my neighborhood to have a pet alligator.
I'm not saying I'm a writer, but I've been in movies for a long time, and I think I could write a script for a movie.
Am I getting better at making choices? Well, I think I might be getting better at reading scripts.
I'm a fan myself, so when a fan does something that might be strange, I understand it.
I've had people ask me: 'How can you make a movie about a murderer? A terrorist?' What they don't understand is that I'm in support of everyone who appears on screen. I have to be. I take the position of everyone who's on screen. I'm not judging them one way or another.
The very first things that I did, even in theater, were bad guys. They are meaty roles for the most part. With the bad guy you have more freedom to experiment and go further out than with a good guy.
Hopefully, I can play both sides of the fence. That's probably what winning the Oscar gives me, the chance to do something with a studio and do other things that I really want to do.
My goal as an actor has always been to reach a level where I can find a lot of interesting work, and I think I'm at that point now. The Oscar has given me a lot of recognition.