Benicio del Toro

Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican[1] actor and producer.[lower-alpha 1][2] He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades and awards, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of the jaded but morally upright police officer Javier Rodriguez in the film Traffic (2000). Del Toro's performance as ex-con turned religious fanatic in despair, Jack Jordan, in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams (2003) earned him a second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a second Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination and a BAFTA Awards nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is del Toro and the second or maternal family name is Sánchez.

Benicio del Toro
Del Toro at the premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014
Born	Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (1967-02-19) February 19, 1967 San Germán, Puerto Rico
Citizenship	Puerto Rico Spain United States
Occupation	Actor producer
Years active	1987–present
Children	1

He is also known for his scene-stealing breakout role as the eccentric, unintelligible crook Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects (1995), which won him his first Independent Spirit Award; Benny Dalmau in Basquiat (1996), which won him a second consecutive Independent Spirit Award; Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998); gambling addict Franky Four Fingers in Snatch (2000); the predatory, unhinged antagonist Jackie Boy in Sin City (2005); revolutionary Che Guevara in Che (2008), a performance which earned him the Best Actor Award both at the Cannes Film Festival, and at the Goya Awards; and as Alejandro, a mysterious, ruthless agent out to bring down a drug cartel in Sicario (2015), for which del Toro won several awards, including the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, and was nominated for a third BAFTA Award.

His noteworthy body of work also includes portrayals of the Collector in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar in Escobar: Paradise Lost, Lawrence Talbot in the 2010 remake of The Wolfman, and codebreaker DJ in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In 2018, he starred as Richard Matt in the Showtime miniseries Escape at Dannemora, for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

Early life

Del Toro was born on February 19, 1967, in San Germán, Puerto Rico, to Gustavo Adolfo del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Genoveva Sánchez Rivera (daughter of Benicio Sánchez Castaño and Lirio Belén Rivera),[3] who were both lawyers. Many of del Toro's relatives are involved in Puerto Rico's legal system.[4] He has an older brother, Gustavo, who is the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York.[5][6] He had a Catalan paternal great-grandfather and a Basque maternal great-grandmother.[7][8] Del Toro is related to Puerto Rican basketball player Carlos Arroyo, Spanish latin pop and eurodance singer Rebeca Pous Del Toro, whose maternal grandfather was Puerto Rican, and Puerto Rican singer Eliseo del Toro. Del Toro's great-grandfather was Rafael Rivera Esbrí, one of the heroes of the El Polvorin fire in Ponce, and who would also later become mayor of that city (1915-1917).[9]

He spent most of his infancy in Santurce, a barrio within San Juan. Del Toro, whose childhood nicknames were "Skinny Benny" and "Beno", was raised a Roman Catholic[10][11] and attended Academia del Perpetuo Socorro (The Academy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help), a Roman Catholic school in Miramar, Puerto Rico.[12][13] When del Toro was nine years old, his mother died of hepatitis.[5] At age 15, he moved with his father and brother to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, where he was enrolled at the Mercersburg Academy. He spent his adolescence and attended high school there.[14] After graduation, del Toro followed the advice of his father and pursued a business degree at the University of California, San Diego.[14] Success in an elective drama course encouraged him to drop out of college and study with noted acting teachers Stella Adler and Arthur Mendoza, in Los Angeles, as well as at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York City.[14]

Career

Del Toro surfaced in small television roles during the late 1980s, playing mostly thugs and drug dealers on programs such as Miami Vice and the NBC miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story. He appeared in the 1987 music video for Madonna's song "La Isla Bonita" as a background character sitting on a car hood. Film roles followed, beginning with his debut in Big Top Pee-wee (1988) and as Dario in the James Bond film Licence to Kill (1989),[14] in which 21-year-old del Toro held the distinction of being the youngest actor ever to play a Bond henchman. Del Toro continued to appear in film including The Indian Runner (1991), China Moon (1994), Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992), Money for Nothing (1993), Fearless (1993) and Swimming with Sharks (1994).

His career gained momentum in 1995 with his breakout performance in The Usual Suspects, where he played the mumbling, wisecracking Fred Fenster.[14] The role won him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male and established him as a character actor. This led to stronger roles in independent and major studio films, including playing Gaspare in Abel Ferrara's The Funeral (1996) and winning a second consecutive Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his work as Benny Dalmau in Basquiat (1996), directed by his friend, artist Julian Schnabel. Del Toro also shared the screen with Robert De Niro in the big-budget thriller The Fan (1996), in which he played Juan Primo, a charismatic Puerto Rican baseball star. He subsequently starred opposite Alicia Silverstone in Excess Baggage (1997), which Silverstone produced.

Del Toro at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con

For Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the 1998 film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's famous book, he gained more than 40 lbs. (about 18 kg) to play Dr. Gonzo (a.k.a. Oscar Zeta Acosta), Thompson's lawyer and drug-fiend cohort.[14] The surrealistic film, directed by Terry Gilliam, has earned a cult following over the years.

Del Toro's performances in four films in 2000 gained him a mainstream audience. First, the crime yarn The Way of the Gun reunited him with The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. A few months later, he stood out among a first-rate ensemble cast in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, a complex dissection of the North American drug wars. As Javier Rodriguez — a Mexican border policeman struggling to remain honest amid the corruption and deception of illegal drug trafficking — del Toro, who spoke most of his lines in Spanish, gave a performance that dominated the film.[14] His performance swept all of the major critics' awards in 2001. Del Toro won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the fourth living Oscar winner whose winning role was a character who speaks predominantly in a non-English language. Del Toro is also the third Puerto Rican actor to win an Oscar, after Jose Ferrer and Rita Moreno.[14] The year he won his Oscar marked the first time that two actors born in Puerto Rico were nominated in the same category (the other actor was Joaquin Phoenix). In his acceptance speech, del Toro thanked the people of both Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora and dedicated his award to them. In addition to the Oscar, he also won the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Traffic was also a success at the box office. This was soon followed by a small role as the diamond thief Franky Four Fingers in Guy Ritchie's hip caper comedy Snatch and a role as a mentally challenged Native American man in The Pledge, directed by his old friend Sean Penn.[14]

In 2003, del Toro appeared in two films: The Hunted, co-starring Tommy Lee Jones and the drama 21 Grams, co-starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. He went on to earn another Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in the latter. He then appeared in the film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel Sin City, directed by Robert Rodriguez, and Things We Lost in the Fire, the English-language debut of celebrated Danish director Susanne Bier.

Del Toro at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival

In 2008, del Toro was awarded the Prix d'interpretation masculine (or Best Actor Award) at the Cannes Film Festival for his portrayal of Che Guevara in the biographical films The Argentine and Guerrilla (together known as Che).[15] During his acceptance speech, del Toro dedicated his award "to the man himself, Che Guevara" along with director Steven Soderbergh.[16] Del Toro was also awarded the 2009 Goya Award as the Best Actor for his portrayal of Guevara.[17] Sean Penn, who won the 2009 Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Milk, remarked that he was surprised and disappointed that Che and del Toro were not also up for any Academy Award nominations. During his acceptance speech for the Best Actor award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Penn expressed his dismay stating, "The fact that there aren't crowns on Soderbergh's and del Toro's heads right now, I don't understand... that is such a sensational movie, Che."[18] For the final portions of the film (shown here), del Toro shed 35 pounds to show how ill Guevara had become near the end of his life in the jungles of Bolivia.[19]

In 2010, del Toro starred in and produced the remake of Lon Chaney Jr.'s classic cult film The Wolf Man (1941).[20]

He was chosen to be the face of the 2011 Campari calendar, becoming the first male model to be featured in the Italian liquor company's calendar.[21][22]

Del Toro played The Collector in a mid-credits scene of Marvel Studios' superhero film Thor: The Dark World (2013) and later reprised his role in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)[23] and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).

In September 2015, del Toro played Alejandro Gillick in the critically acclaimed Sicario, about a principled FBI agent who is enlisted by a government task force to bring down the leader of a powerful and brutal Mexican drug cartel. Film critics widely praised his performance.[24][25] Del Toro reprised his role in the sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018).

In 2016, del Toro appeared in a Heineken beer television advertisement in its More Behind the Star series. The gag in the spot is that fans frequently mistake him for fellow actor Antonio Banderas, much to del Toro's chagrin.[26] In 2017, he played DJ in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.[27]

Personal life

On April 11, 2011, del Toro's publicist announced that del Toro and Kimberly Stewart (daughter of Rod Stewart) were expecting a child, although they were not in a relationship.[28] Stewart gave birth to a daughter, Delilah Stewart,[29] on August 21, 2011.[28] They had their daughter baptized in Puerto Rico.[30]

On November 4, 2011, he acquired Spanish citizenship, along with fellow Puerto Rican Ricky Martin.[31] The request was granted by the Spanish government in recognition of his artistic talents[31] and for his Spanish ancestry (he has family in Barcelona).[2]

In March 2012, he was granted an honorary degree by the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico for his impact on the cinema enterprise, during the celebration of the institution's centenary.[32]

Environmental causes

Street mural of Benicio del Toro in the Rio Piedras, San Juan

In 2003, Benicio del Toro became the spokesman of the educational campaign "Yo Limpio a Puerto Rico", an environmental organization founded in 1997 by Ignacio Barsottelli, whose mission is to educate and mobilize Puerto Ricans in favor of recycling and the protection of the environment.[33]

Del Toro narrated the public service announcement entitled "Coral Reef", joining the "Artists to the rescue of the environment" campaign.[33]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1988	Big Top Pee-wee	Duke, the Dog-Faced Boy	Randal Kleiser
1989	Licence to Kill	Dario	John Glen
1991	The Indian Runner	Miguel Aguilera	Sean Penn
1992	Christopher Columbus: The Discovery	Alvaro Harana	John Glen
1993	Fearless	Manny Rodrigo	Peter Weir
	Golden Balls	Bob, the friend from Miami	Bigas Luna
	Money for Nothing	Dino Palladino	Ramón Menéndez
1994	Swimming with Sharks	Rex	George Huang
	China Moon	Detective Lamar Dickey	John Bailey
1995	The Usual Suspects	Fred Fenster	Bryan Singer
	Submission	N/A	Himself	Short film; director, writer and producer
1996	The Funeral	Gaspare Spoglia	Abel Ferrara
	The Fan	Juan Primo	Tony Scott
	Cannes Man	Himself	Susan Hito Shapiro	Cameo
	Basquiat	Benny Dalmau	Julian Schnabel
	Joyride	Detective López	Quinton Peeples
1997	Excess Baggage	Vincent Roche	Marco Brambilla
1998	Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas	Dr. Gonzo	Terry Gilliam
2000	Traffic	Javier Rodríguez	Steven Soderbergh
	The Way of the Gun	Harold Longbaugh	Christopher McQuarrie
	Snatch	Franky "Four Fingers"	Guy Ritchie
	Bread and Roses	Himself	Ken Loach	Uncredited cameo
2001	The Pledge	Toby Jay Wadenah	Sean Penn
2003	21 Grams	Jack Jordan	Alejandro González Iñárritu
	The Hunted	Aaron Hallam	William Friedkin
2005	Sin City	Jack Rafferty	Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez
2007	Things We Lost in the Fire	Jerry Sunborne	Susanne Bier
2008	Che	Che Guevara	Steven Soderbergh	Also producer
2010	The Wolfman	Lawrence Talbot / The Wolfman	Joe Johnston	Also producer
	Somewhere	Himself	Sofia Coppola	Uncredited cameo
2011	The Upsetter	Narrator	Ethan Higbee & Adam Bhala Lough	Voice
2012	Savages	Lado	Oliver Stone
	7 Days in Havana	N/A	Himself	Director; segment: El Yuma
2013	Jimmy Picard	Jimmy Picard	Arnaud Desplechin
	Thor: The Dark World	Taneleer Tivan / The Collector	Alan Taylor	Uncredited cameo
2014	Guardians of the Galaxy		James Gunn
	Inherent Vice	Sauncho Smilax	Paul Thomas Anderson
	Escobar: Paradise Lost	Pablo Escobar	Andrea Di Stefano
2015	A Perfect Day	Mambrú	Fernando León de Aranoa
	Sicario	Alejandro Gillick	Denis Villeneuve
	The Little Prince	The Snake	Mark Osborne	Voice
2017	Star Wars: The Last Jedi	DJ	Rian Johnson
2018	Avengers: Infinity War	Taneleer Tivan / The Collector	Anthony and Joe Russo	Cameo
	Sicario: Day of the Soldado	Alejandro Gillick	Stefano Sollima
2019	Dora and the Lost City of Gold	Swiper the Fox	James Bobin	Voice
TBA	The French Dispatch	Moses Rosenthaler	Wes Anderson	Post-production
	All-Star Weekend	Dr. Phill	Jamie Foxx	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Shell Game	Pedroza	Episode: "The Upstairs Gardener"
	Miami Vice	Pito	Episode: "Everybody's in Showbiz"
	Private Eye	Carlos	2 episodes
1990	Drug Wars: The Camarena Story	Rafael Caro Quintero	Television miniseries
1994	Tales from the Crypt	Bill	Episode: "The Bribe"
1995	Fallen Angels	Paco	Episode: "Good Housekeeping"
2008	Todos Contra Juan	Himself	Episode: "Juan & La Critica"
2018	Escape at Dannemora	Richard Matt	7 episodes

Theme park attractions

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2017	Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission Breakout!	Taneleer Tivan / The Collector	Disney California Adventure

Awards and nominations

See also: List of awards and nominations received by Benicio del Toro

See also

• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
• List of Puerto Ricans
• Cultural diversity in Puerto Rico

References

1. Méndez-Méndez, S.; Mendez, S.M.; Cueto, G.; Deynes, N.R.; Rodríguez-Deynes, N. (2003). Notable Caribbeans and Caribbean Americans: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-313-31443-8. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
2. Puente, Maria (November 4, 2011). "Oscar winner Benicio del Toro, singer Ricky Martin become Spanish citizens". USA Today. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
3. "Fausta Genoveva Sanchez Rivera] - United States Census, 1940".
4. "Benicio DEL Toro Biography (1967-)". filmreference.com.
5. 'Dammit, this guy is cool' - The Guardian - published 2008-11-29, retrieved June 29, 2009.
6. "Gustavo Del Toro - Mount Sinai Doctors Faculty Practice". Mount Sinai Faculty Practice Associates.
7. BARCELONA, CARMEN MUÑOZ (November 5, 2011). "Ricky Martin y Del Toro se hacen españoles". El Periódico. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
8. "Benicio del Toro: "Soy como un enterrador"". El Mundo. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
9. Historic Buildings and Structures in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Jorge L. Perez (El Nuevo Dia) and Jorge Figueroa (Ponce Municipal Historian). Text accompanying Drawing #20, titled "Tumba de los Bomberos". Puerto Rico Historic Buildings Drawings Society. 2019. Accessed 4 February 2019.
10. "Benicio Del Toro's "Let's Have Some Fun, Okay?" Page". Portland Mercury.
11. Mike Sager (April 1, 2005). "Toro, Benicio Del". Esquire. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
12. 'Traffic Stopper' - People - published 2001-04-16, retrieved May 14, 2010.
13. 'Benicio del Toro: Mild at heart' - Irish Independent - published 2010-02-05, retrieved May 14, 2010.
14. Stated in interview on Inside the Actors Studio
15. Associated Press (May 25, 2008). "Benicio Del Toro gana premio a mejor actor en Cannes". Primera Hora (in Spanish). Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
16. Hernandez, Eugene; Brooks, Brian (May 25, 2008). "Laurent Cantent's The Class Wins the Palme d'Or". indieWIRE. Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
17. Rolfe, Pamela (February 1, 2009). "Camino Leads Goya Awards with Six Nods". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
18. "Penn Surprised over Toro's Absence from Nominations List". The Hindu. February 8, 2009. Archived from the original on July 4, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
19. Olsen, Mark (December 11, 2008). "Benicio Del Toro leads the charge for Che". Los Angeles Times.
20. "Benicio Del Toro Talks The Wolfman". DreadCentral.
21. Rosario, Mariela (September 30, 2010). "Benicio Del Toro Named Face of 2011 Campari Calendar". Latina. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
22. Badiali, Alessandro (October 22, 2010). "Guests in frenzy for the Puerto Rican actor, star of the Campari Calendar 2011". Vogue. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
23. Fleming, Jr., Mike (June 3, 2013). "Benicio Del Toro Takes Lead Role In Marvel's 'Guardians Of The Galaxy'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
24. Galloway, Stephen; Belloni, Matthew (January 18, 2016). "Watch THR's Full, Uncensored Actor Roundtable With Will Smith, Mark Ruffalo and More - Actor Oscar Roundtable". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
25. Galloway, Stephen; Belloni, Matthew. "Will Smith, Mark Ruffalo and Four More A-List Actors on Hollywood Racism, Aging and … Peeing in Sinks?". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
26. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSpdcbhjXJU, reviewed Aug. 16, 2016.
27. "Star Wars Episode 8's Villain to Be Played by Benicio Del Toro". GameSpot.
28. "Kimberly Stewart Gives Birth to Baby Girl!". Us Weekly. August 21, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
29. Finlayson, Ariana (December 4, 2011). "First Pic: Meet Kimberly Stewart's Daughter, Delilah, 3 Months". Us Weekly. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
30. "Benicio Del Toro Baptises Daughter in Puerto Rico - Latin Gossip". www.latingossip.com.
31. "Spanish citizenship for Ricky Martin, Benicio del Toro | CTV News". www.ctvnews.ca. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
32. "Benicio del Toro recibe homenaje en la Interamericana de San Germán". March 4, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
33. Vargas, Patricia (June 10, 2003). "Protege Benicio la vida marina" (in Spanish). Adendi.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015.

Notes

1. "Yo tengo sangre española, italiana y americana, y me siento completamente latino." See http://www.elmundo.es/cronica/2004/431/1074518909.html (Benicio del Toro: "Soy como un enterrador: CON FAMA de complicado, el actor puertorriqueño vuelve a sonar para el Oscar por su papel en «21 gramos»] Beatrice Santori. Madrid, Spain: El Mundo. "Cronica, un Suplemento de El Mundo". 18 de 2004, número 431 [year/issue/date as it appears online] Accessed 13 February 2020.)

External links

• Benicio del Toro on IMDb
• Benicio del Toro at the TCM Movie Database
• Benicio del Toro at AllMovie