Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrat Rafael Del Toro Sanchez (born
February 19,
1967) is an
Academy Award winning
actor. He was born in
San Germán, Puerto Rico and grew up in Santurce, but spent his teens and attended high school in
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.
His parents, Gustavo Adolfo Del Toro Bermudez and Fausta Sanchez Rivera, were both
lawyers. He has an older brother, also named Gustavo, who is a
pediatric oncologist working in Manhattan.
Benicio attended
Academia del Perpetuo Socorro (The Academy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help), a Roman Catholic school in
Miramar, Puerto Rico. When he was nine years old, his mother died of
hepatitis. At age 13, his father moved his family to
Mercersburg,
Pennsylvania, near
Chambersburg, where Benicio was enrolled in Mercersburg Academy, a boarding school.
After graduation, Del Toro followed the advice of his father and pursued a practical degree in business at the
University of California, San Diego. Success in an elective drama course encouraged him to drop out of college and study with noted acting teacher
Stella Adler in Los Angeles, as well as at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York. Benicio hid his new career goals from his family until roles began to come his way.
He began to surface in small television parts during the late 1980s, playing mostly thugs and drug dealers on programs like "
Miami Vice" and the NBC miniseries,
Drug Wars: The Camarena Story. Work in films followed, beginning with his debut in
Big Top Pee-wee and in the
007 film
Licence to Kill, in which 21-year-old Benicio held the distinction of being the youngest actor ever to play a
Bond villain.
Although both films were considered
box office disappointments, Del Toro continued to give worthy performances in movies like
The Indian Runner (1991),
China Moon (1991),
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992),
Money for Nothing (1993),
Fearless (1993), and
Swimming with Sharks (1994).
His career gained real momentum in 1995 with his breakout performance in
The Usual Suspects, where he stole scenes from his more seasoned costars as the mumbling, wisecracking
Fred Fenster. The role won him an
Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor, and firmly established him as "the guy to watch."
The heat from
Suspects led to more strong roles in independent and major studio films. He played the charming, ruthless mobster Gaspare in Abel Ferrara's The Funeral (1996) and won a second consecutive Best Supporting Actor Independent Spirit Award for his work as Benny Dalmau in
Basquiat (1996), directed by his friend,
artist Julian Schnabel. Benicio also shared the screen with
Robert De Niro in the big budget thriller
The Fan, in which he played Juan Primo, a charismatic Mexican baseball star.
In 1997,
Alicia Silverstone personally chose Benicio to costar with her in the quirky romantic comedy
Excess Baggage, which she also produced. The film was generally panned, but critics singled out Benicio's distinctive screen presence and creative performance.
For
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the 1998 film adaptation of
Hunter S. Thompson's famous book, he packed on 40+ pounds to play
Dr. Gonzo (aka
Oscar Zeta Acosta), Thompson's lawyer and drug-fiend cohort. Del Toro's highly immersive, uncanny performance divided critics and audiences. The negative reviews upset him, as he had fully invested himself in the role both emotionally and physically, even burning himself with cigarettes for one particular scene (later cut from the film). Even though del Toro has told interviewers this was a low point in his career,
Terry Gilliam's surrealistic film has earned a
cult following over the years.
Returning from a self-imposed two-year hiatus after
Fear and Loathing, Benicio would gain a mainstream audience in 2000 with an impressive string of performances in four high-profile films. First up was
The Way of the Gun, a sardonic crime yarn that reunited him with
The Usual Suspects screenwriter
Christopher McQuarrie, making his directorial debut.
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 Benicio, who spoke most of his lines in Spanish, gave a heartfelt, multifaceted performance that dominated the film and earned him his first
Oscar for
Best Supporting Actor. His universally praised work swept all of the major critics awards in 2000, as well as the
Golden Globe, and the
Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. In addition to the critical accolades,
Traffic was also a surprise success at the box office, bringing Benicio real Hollywood clout for the first time in his career.
|
Benicio Del Toro as Javier Rodriguez in Traffic (2000) |
While
Traffic was still playing in theaters, two other del Toro films were released in late 2000/early 2001. He had a brief, memorable role as the diamond thief Franky Four Fingers in
Guy Ritchie's hip caper comedy
Snatch, and was powerful as a
mentally-challenged Native American man in
The Pledge, directed by his old friend
Sean Penn.
All of this attention helped to cement Benicio's status as a
sex symbol. His smoldering looks have led to comparisons with
James Dean,
Marlon Brando, and
Brad Pitt, and placement on
People Magazine's annual "50 Most Beautiful People" list. Although he stayed out of the limelight in 2002, Benicio had another banner year in 2003 with the release of
The Hunted, an action thriller costarring
Tommy Lee Jones, and the drama
21 Grams, an acting tour-de-force, costarring Sean Penn and
Naomi Watts. He went on to garner another
Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work in the latter.
His most recent work can be seen in the
film adaptation of
Frank Miller's graphic novel Sin City, directed by
Robert Rodriguez. He is currently filming a version of the life of
Che Guevara, directed by
Steven Soderbergh.
* Del Toro has a cameo in
Madonna's music video clip
La Isla Bonita as a background character.
* In 2001, Del Toro became the fourth
Oscar winner whose winning role was a character who speaks predominantly in a foreign language.
* He is the third
Puerto Rican actor to win an
Oscar. The other two were actors
Jose Ferrer and
Rita Moreno.
* The night he won his
Oscar, it was the first time that two actors born in
Puerto Rico were nominated in the same category. (The other actor was
Joaquin Phoenix for his role in
Gladiator).Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)
Where the Wild Things Are (2007)
Guerrilla (2007)
Sin City (2005)
21 Grams (2003)
The Hunted (2003)
The Pledge (2001)
Traffic (2000)
The Way of the Gun (2000)
Snatch (2000)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Excess Baggage (1997)
The Fan (1996)
Basquiat (1996)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Swimming with Sharks (1994)
Fearless (1993)
Huevos de oro(1993)
Money for Nothing (1993)
Licence to Kill (1989)
Big Top Pee-wee (1988)
*
Academy Award, (2003), Best Supporting Actor nomination:
21 Grams*
Academy Award, (2000), Best Supporting Actor win:
Traffic*
Berlin International Film Festival, (2000), Silver Bear for Best Actor win:
Traffic*
British Academy Awards (BAFTA), (2000), Best Supporting Actor win:
Traffic*
Chicago Film Critics Association, (2003), Best Supporting Actor nomination:
21 Grams*
Chicago Film Critics Association, (2000), Best Supporting Actor win:
Traffic*
Golden Globe, (2000), Best Supporting Actor win:
Traffic*
Independent Spirit Award, (1996), Best Supporting Actor win:
Basquiat*
Independent Spirit Award, (1995), Best Supporting Actor win:
The Usual Suspects*
L.A. Film Critics Association, (2003), Best Supporting Actor win:
21 Grams*
National Society of Film Critics, (2000), Best Supporting Actor win:
Traffic*
New York Film Critics Circle, (2000), Best Supporting Actor win:
Traffic*
Screen Actors Guild, (2003), Best Supporting Actor nomination:
21 Grams*
Screen Actors Guild, (2000), Best Actor win:
Traffic* Toronto Film Critics Association, (2000), Best Actor win:
Traffic*
Che Guevara*
List of male movie actors (A-K)*
List of Best Supporting Actor nominees*
List of famous Puerto Ricans*
List of Hispanics*
List of James Bond villains*
Declaration of Independence (United States)*
List of Navy-Vieques protesters and supporters*
Benicio Del Toro - Official Site*
This Is My Life: Benicio Del Toro - The Miami (October 10, 1997)*
All About Benicio - Dominic Wills*
Benicio Del Toro Heaven - Bulletin Board*
Benicio Del Toro - Fanlisting*
Benicio Del Toro - Photo Gallery*
Benicio Del Toro - Video: Declaration of Independence Performance
