Benicio del Toro

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 Born February 19, 1967, Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican actor whose career is adorned with prestigious accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Silver Bear. Del Toro made his cinematic debut in *Big Top Pee-wee* in 1988. His true breakout arrived with his unforgettable, unintelligible performance as a crook in the 1995 crime thriller *The Usual Suspects*. This was followed by a string of notable roles in films like *Basquiat*, *Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas*, and *Snatch*. His portrayal of a morally upright police officer in Steven Soderbergh's *Traffic* earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was later nominated in the same category for his role as an ex-con in Alejandro González Iñárritu's *21 Grams*. His extensive filmography includes *Sin City*, *Che*, *Savages*, *Inherent Vice*, *Sicario*, *No Sudden Move*, and the upcoming *One Battle After Another*. Del Toro has also left his mark on major franchises, embodying Lawrence Talbot in *The Wolfman*, the enigmatic Collector across three Marvel Cinematic Universe films, and the cunning codebreaker DJ in *Star Wars: The Last Jedi*. He’s also collaborated with Wes Anderson on *The French Dispatch* and the upcoming *The Phoenician Scheme*. On television, his compelling performance as Richard Matt in the Showtime miniseries *Escape at Dannemora* earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor. Born in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, to a pair of lawyers, Del Toro's lineage traces back to Catalan and Basque ancestry, with a great-grandfather who was a hero of the El Polvorin fire and a former mayor of Ponce. Raised Roman Catholic, he attended Academia del Perpetuo Socorro. The tragic loss of his mother to hepatitis at age nine marked a turning point. At fifteen, he moved with his family to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, where he attended Mercersburg Academy. A business degree at the University of California, San Diego, was ultimately sidelined by a passion ignited in an elective drama course. This led him to study under renowned acting coaches Stella Adler and Arthur Mendoza in Los Angeles, and at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York City. Del Toro's early career saw him in supporting television roles in the late 1980s, often portraying unsavory characters on shows like *Miami Vice* and the miniseries *Drug Wars: The Camarena Story*. He even appeared in Madonna's "La Isla Bonita" music video. His film debut came in *Big Top Pee-wee*, followed by an appearance as Dario in the James Bond film *Licence to Kill*. He continued to build his filmography with roles in *The Indian Runner*, *China Moon*, and *Fearless*. His career gained significant traction in 1995 with his breakout role as the mumbling Fred Fenster in *The Usual Suspects*, a performance that earned him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male and solidified his reputation as a formidable character actor. This led to more substantial roles in both independent and studio films, including *The Funeral* and *Basquiat*, for which he won a second consecutive Independent Spirit Award. He also shared the screen with Robert De Niro in the thriller *The Fan* and starred opposite Alicia Silverstone in *Excess Baggage*. For his transformative portrayal of Dr. Gonzo in the 1998 adaptation of *Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas*, he gained significant weight, immersing himself in the role of Hunter S. Thompson's drug-fueled lawyer. This surrealistic film, directed by Terry Gilliam, has since garnered a devoted cult following. Del Toro's performances in four films in 2000 propelled him into the mainstream spotlight. He reunited with the screenwriter of *The Usual Suspects* for *The Way of the Gun*. However, it was his role as Javier Rodriguez in Steven Soderbergh's complex crime drama *Traffic* that truly captivated audiences. As a Mexican border policeman navigating a world of corruption and deception, del Toro delivered a performance that dominated the film, with much of his dialogue in Spanish. His performance garnered widespread critical acclaim, sweeping major awards in 2001, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This made him the fourth living Oscar winner to receive the award for a predominantly non-English speaking role. He also became the third Puerto Rican actor to win an Oscar, following José Ferrer and Rita Moreno. The same year he won his Oscar, two actors born in Puerto Rico were nominated in the same category, a historic first. In his acceptance speech, del Toro expressed his gratitude to the people of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, dedicating his award to them. Beyond the Oscar, he also secured a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for his work in *Traffic*, which was also a box office success. He then appeared in Guy Ritchie's heist comedy *Snatch* as a diamond thief and took on the role of a mentally challenged Native American man in *The Pledge*, directed by Sean Penn. In 2003, del Toro starred in two films: *The Hunted*, alongside Tommy Lee Jones, and the drama *21 Grams*, with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, earning another Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role in the latter. He subsequently appeared in the film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel *Sin City* and *Things We Lost in the Fire*. In 2008, del Toro received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his portrayal of Che Guevara in the biographical films *The Argentine* and *Guerrilla*, collectively known as *Che*. He dedicated his award to Guevara himself and director Steven Soderbergh. He also earned a Goya Award for Best Actor for his performance. Sean Penn, a fellow Oscar winner that year, expressed his surprise and disappointment that *Che* and del Toro were not recognized with Academy Award nominations, calling the film "sensational." For the latter parts of *Che*, del Toro lost 35 pounds to depict Guevara's deteriorating health in the Bolivian jungles. In 2010, he starred in and produced the remake of the cult classic *The Wolfman*. He also became the first male model to be featured in the Campari calendar in 2011. Del Toro's foray into franchise films began in 2013 with his role as The Collector in a mid-credits scene of Marvel Studios' *Thor: The Dark World*, reprising the character in *Guardians of the Galaxy* and *Avengers: Infinity War*. In September 2015, he played Alejandro Gillick in the acclaimed *Sicario*, a Mexican ex-prosecutor seeking revenge and working with a CIA team to dismantle a brutal drug cartel. His performance was widely lauded, and he reprised his role in the sequel, *Sicario: Day of the Soldado*. In 2016, he appeared in a Heineken television advertisement, humorously addressing the common confusion between him and actor Antonio Banderas. In 2017, he portrayed DJ, a supporting antagonist in *Star Wars: The Last Jedi*, who betrays the protagonists to save himself. In 2021, del Toro starred in Wes Anderson's *The French Dispatch* as Moses Rosenthaler, a disturbed artist, and is set to collaborate with Anderson again in 2025 on *The Phoenician Scheme*. Del Toro has had past romantic relationships with Chiara Mastroianni, Alicia Silverstone, and Valeria Golino. In April 2011, it was announced that he and Kimberly Stewart were expecting a child. Their daughter, Delilah, was born on August 21, 2011, and was baptized in Puerto Rico. On November 4, 2011, del Toro, along with Ricky Martin, acquired Spanish citizenship, a recognition of his artistic talents and his Spanish ancestry. In March 2012, the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico awarded him an honorary degree for his significant influence on the cinema industry. Since 2003, he has served as the spokesman for "Yo Limpio a Puerto Rico," an environmental organization focused on recycling and environmental protection. Del Toro also lent his voice to the public service announcement "Coral Reef" as part of the "Artists to the Rescue of the Environment" campaign.
Benicio_del_Toro

Full Wikipedia Article

 Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (Spanish: [beˈnisjo ðel ˈtoɾo]; born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor. His accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Silver Bear. Del Toro made his film debut in Big Top Pee-wee (1988) before his breakout role playing an unintelligible crook in the crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) followed by roles in Basquiat (1996), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), and Snatch (2000). He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a morally upright police officer in the Steven Soderbergh crime drama Traffic (2000), and was nominated in the same category for playing an ex-con in Alejandro González Iñárritu's thriller 21 Grams (2003). He has since acted in Sin City (2005), Che (2008), Savages (2012), Inherent Vice (2014), Sicario (2015), No Sudden Move (2021), and One Battle After Another (2025). He also took franchise roles such as Lawrence Talbot in The Wolfman (2010), the Collector in three films from 2013 to 2018 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DJ, the codebreaker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). He also acted in the Wes Anderson films The French Dispatch (2021), and The Phoenician Scheme (2025). On television, he portrayed Richard Matt in the Showtime miniseries Escape at Dannemora (2018), 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 Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Gustavo Adolfo del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Genoveva Sánchez Rivera (daughter of Benicio Sánchez Castaño and Lirio Belén Rivera), who were both lawyers. 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. He had a Catalan paternal great-grandfather and a Basque maternal great-grandmother. 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). 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 and attended Academia del Perpetuo Socorro (The Academy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help), a Roman Catholic school in Miramar, Puerto Rico. When del Toro was nine years old, his mother died of hepatitis. 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. After graduation, del Toro followed the advice of his father and pursued a business degree 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 teachers Stella Adler and Arthur Mendoza, in Los Angeles, as well as at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York City. == Career == === 1987–1999: Early roles and breakthrough === 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). 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. 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, film-maker and painter 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. 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. The surrealistic film, directed by Terry Gilliam, has earned a cult following over the years. === 2000–2012: Traffic and other films === 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. 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. 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. 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. 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). During his acceptance speech, del Toro dedicated his award "to the man himself, Che Guevara" along with director Steven Soderbergh. Del Toro was also awarded the 2009 Goya Award as the Best Actor for his portrayal of Guevara. 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." 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. In 2010, del Toro starred in and produced the remake of Lon Chaney Jr.'s classic cult film The Wolf Man (1941). 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. === Since 2013: Franchise films and expansion === 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) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). In September 2015, del Toro played Alejandro Gillick in the critically acclaimed Sicario, about a Mexican ex-prosecutor seeking revenge for the slaying of his wife and daughter working with a CIA special ops team to bring down the leader of a powerful and brutal Mexican drug cartel. Film critics widely praised his performance. Del Toro reprised his role in the sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018). In 2016, del Toro appeared in a Heineken 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. In 2017, he played DJ (an abbreviation for "Don't Join", as DJ viewed the Resistance and the First Order as equally corrupt), a supporting antagonist in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, who betrayed Rose and Finn to save himself when they were apprehended on the First Order's flagship. In 2021, del Toro starred in the Wes Anderson film The French Dispatch as Moses Rosenthaler, a mentally disturbed artist. He collaborated with the director once again in 2025 with The Phoenician Scheme. == Personal life == Del Toro was formerly romantically involved with Chiara Mastroianni, Alicia Silverstone and Valeria Golino. In April 2011, del Toro's publicist announced that del Toro and Kimberly Stewart were expecting a child, although they were not in a relationship. Stewart gave birth to a daughter, Delilah, on August 21, 2011. They had their daughter baptized in Puerto Rico. On November 4, 2011, he acquired Spanish citizenship, along with fellow Puerto Rican Ricky Martin. The request was granted by the Spanish government in recognition of his artistic talents and for his Spanish ancestry (he has family in Barcelona). In March 2012, he was granted an honorary degree by the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico for his influence on the cinema enterprise, during the celebration of the institution's centenary. In 2003, 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. Del Toro narrated the public service announcement entitled "Coral Reef", joining the Artists to the Rescue of the Environment campaign. == Filmography == === Film === === Television === === Theme park attractions === == Awards and nominations == == See also == Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor List of Puerto Ricans Cultural diversity in Puerto Rico == References == == External links == Benicio del Toro at IMDb Home Languages