Benicio del Toro

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Benicio del Toro

Benicio del Toro in Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, Puerto Rico
Born Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez
February 19, 1967 (1967-02-19) (age 41)
Santurce, Puerto Rico

Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is an Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award- and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award-winning Puerto Rican actor and film producer. He is known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects, Javier Rodríguez Rodríguez in Traffic, Jack 'Jackie Boy' Rafferty in Sin City, and Frankie Four Fingers in Snatch.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Benicio del Toro was born in San Germán, Puerto Rico[citation needed] but grew up in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a district of San Juan. He is the son of Gustavo Adolfo del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Sánchez Rivera, who were both lawyers.[1] He has an older brother, Gustavo, who is a pediatric oncologist. Del Toro's childhood nicknames were "Skinny Benny" and "Beno". He was raised Catholic[2] and 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 the age of thirteen, del Toro's father moved his two sons to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, where del Toro was enrolled at the Mercersburg Academy. He spent his adolescence and high school there.[3]

After graduation, del Toro followed the advice of his father and pursued a degree in business at the University of California, San Diego.[3] 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.[3]

[edit] Career

Del Toro 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. He had a cameo in Madonna's 1987 music video clip "La Isla Bonita" as a background character. Work in films followed, beginning with his debut in Big Top Pee-wee and in the 007 film Licence to Kill,[3] in which 21-year-old del Toro 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 appear 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 momentum in 1995 with his breakout performance in The Usual Suspects, where he played the mumbling, wisecracking Fred Fenster.[3] The role won him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor and established him as a character actor. This led to more strong roles in independent and major studio films, including playing Gaspare in Abel Ferrara's The Funeral (1996) and winning 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. Del Toro 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.

For Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the 1998 film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's famous book, he packed on more than 40 lbs. (about 18 kg) to play Dr. Gonzo (a.k.a. Oscar Zeta Acosta), Thompson's lawyer and drug-fiend cohort.[3] The surrealistic film, directed by Terry Gilliam, has earned a cult following over the years. Returning from a two-year hiatus after Fear and Loathing, del Toro would gain a mainstream audience in 2000 with a string of performances in four high-profile films. First up was The Way of the Gun, a 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 — a Mexican border cop 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 and earned him his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.[3]

His praised work swept all of the major critics awards in 2001, 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 success at the box office, bringing to del Toro real Hollywood clout for the first time in his career. While Traffic was still playing in theaters, two other del Toro films were released in late 2000/early 2001. He had a brief role as the diamond thief Franky Four Fingers in Guy Ritchie's hip caper comedy Snatch, and played a mentally-challenged Native American man in The Pledge, directed by his old friend Sean Penn.[3]

All of this attention helped to cement Benicio's status as a sex symbol. He was placed on People magazine's annual "50 Most Beautiful People" list. While his looks have led to comparisons with Marlon Brando and James Dean, he has been jokingly referred as the "Spanish Brad Pitt". In 2003, del Toro appeared in two films: The Hunted, co-starring Tommy Lee Jones, and the drama 21 Grams, an acting tour-de-force, co-starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. He went on to garner another Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work in the latter.

His most recent roles were 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. Things We Lost in the Fire co-starred Halle Berry, Alison Lohman, and John Carroll Lynch. On May 25, 2008, del Toro received the "Best Actor" award at the Cannes Film Festival for his characterization of Che Guevara in Guerrilla.[4]

[edit] Academy Award

In 2001, del Toro became the fourth Oscar winner whose winning role was a character who speaks predominantly in a foreign language (most of del Toro's dialogue is in Spanish). Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, and Roberto Benigni are the other three (Marion Cotillard became the fifth winner of an Academy Award for a character who speaks in a foreign language). Del Toro is also the third Puerto Rican actor to win an Oscar. The other two were actors Jose Ferrer and Rita Moreno.[3] 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).

[edit] Personal life

He was engaged to Valeria Golino from 1988 to 1992, they lived together in Golino's LA apartment. He has dated celebrities included Claire Forlani, Sara Foster, Alicia Silverstone and Chiara Mastroianni. He was encountered with Charlize Theron, Heather Graham and Scarlett Johansson.[citation needed]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Films

Year Film Role Other notes
1988 Big Top Pee-wee Duke, the Dog-Faced Boy
1989 Licence to Kill Dario
1991 The Indian Runner Miguel
1992 Christopher Columbus: The Discovery Alvaro Harana with Marlon Brando
1993 Fearless Manny Rodrigo
Huevos de oro Bob, the friend from Miami
Money for Nothing Dino Palladino
1994 Swimming with Sharks Rex
China Moon Lamar Dickey
1995 The Usual Suspects Fred Fenster
1996 The Funeral Gaspare Spoglia
The Fan Juan Primo
Cannes Man Himself Cameo appearance
Basquiat Benny Dalmau
Joyride Detective López
1997 Excess Baggage Vincent Roche
1998 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Dr. Gonzo aka Óscar Zeta Acosta
2000 Traffic Javier Rodríguez Rodríguez Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Way of the Gun Harry Longbaugh
Snatch Franky 'Four Fingers'
Bread and Roses Himself Cameo
2001 The Pledge Toby Jay Wadenah
2003 21 Grams Jack Jordan Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination
The Hunted Aaron Hallam
2005 Sin City Jack 'Jackie Boy' Rafferty
2007 Things We Lost in the Fire Jerry Sunborne
2008 Guerrilla, The Argentine Ernesto 'Che' Guevara de la Serna 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival "Best Actor
also producer (Guerilla)
2009 The Wolf Man Lawrence Talbot / The Wolf Man Filming
also producer

[edit] Short films

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula Naevius Sutorius Macro 5-minute longer
That's So New York Himself 3-minute longer
1995 Submission Only director, writer and producer

[edit] TV-Series

Year Title Episode Role
1987 Miami Vice Everybody's in Showbiz Pito
Private Eye Blue Movie
1990 Drug Wars: The Camarena Story All episodes Caro Quintero
1994 Tales from the Crypt The Bribe Bill
1995 Fallen Angels Good Housekeeping Paco

[edit] Awards

This list includes some awards of Benicio del Toro:

Year Award Nomination Film
1995 Independent Spirit Award Best Supporting Actor win The Usual Suspects
1996 Independent Spirit Award Best Supporting Actor win Basquiat
2000 Academy Award Best Supporting Actor win Traffic
Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear for Best Actor win Traffic
British Academy Awards (BAFTA) Best Supporting Actor win Traffic
Chicago Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor win Traffic
Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor win Traffic
National Society of Film Critics Best Supporting Actor win Traffic
New York Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actor win Traffic
Screen Actors Guild Best Actor win Traffic
Toronto Film Critics Association Best Actor win Traffic
2003 Academy Award Best Supporting Actor nomination 21 Grams
Chicago Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor nomination 21 Grams
L.A. Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor win 21 Grams
Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actor nomination 21 Grams
2008 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor win Che
Awards
Preceded by
Michael Caine
for The Cider House Rules
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
2000
for Traffic
Succeeded by
Jim Broadbent
for Iris
Preceded by
Tom Cruise
for Magnolia
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
2001
for Traffic
Succeeded by
Jim Broadbent
for Iris
Preceded by
Jude Law
for The Talented Mr. Ripley
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2001
for Traffic
Succeeded by
Jim Broadbent
for Moulin Rouge!

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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[edit] External links