Benicio del Toro facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Benicio del Toro
Del Toro in 2014
Born	Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (1967-02-19) February 19, 1967 (age 58) San Germán, Puerto Rico
Citizenship	Spain and United States
Education	University of California, San Diego
Occupation	Actor producer
Years active	1987–present
Children	1
Awards	Full list

Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a famous actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for playing many different kinds of characters in movies. He has won many important awards, like an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe.

He won an Academy Award for his role as Javier Rodriguez, a police officer, in the movie Traffic (2000). He was also nominated for another Academy Award for his role as Jack Jordan in 21 Grams (2003).

Benicio del Toro is also known for his roles as:

• Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects (1995)
• Benny Dalmau in Basquiat (1996)
• Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
• Franky Four Fingers in Snatch (2000)
• Jackie Boy in Sin City (2005)
• Revolutionary Che Guevara in Che (2008), which won him Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival and Goya Awards.
• Alejandro in Sicario (2015).
• The Collector in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
• Pablo Escobar in Escobar: Paradise Lost (2014).
• Lawrence Talbot in The Wolfman (2010).
• The codebreaker DJ in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017).
• Richard Matt in the TV show Escape at Dannemora (2018).

Benicio del Toro: A Talented Actor

Benicio del Toro has become one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. He is known for his intense performances and for choosing unique roles. His career shows how hard work and dedication can lead to great success in the film industry.

Early Life and Education

Benicio del Toro was born on February 19, 1967, in San Germán, Puerto Rico. His parents, Gustavo Adolfo del Toro Bermúdez and Fausta Genoveva Sánchez Rivera, were both lawyers. He has an older brother named Gustavo.

Benicio spent his early childhood in Santurce, a part of San Juan. He was raised Roman Catholic and went to a Catholic school there. When he was nine years old, his mother passed away.

At age 15, he moved with his father and brother to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States. He went to high school there. After graduating, Benicio started studying business at the University of California, San Diego. However, he found his passion for acting in a drama class. He decided to leave college to study acting with famous teachers like Stella Adler and Arthur Mendoza in Los Angeles, and also in New York City.

Amazing Acting Career

Benicio del Toro started his acting career in the late 1980s with small TV roles. He often played tough characters in shows like Miami Vice. He even appeared in Madonna's music video for "La Isla Bonita" in 1987.

His first movie roles included Big Top Pee-wee (1988) and Dario in the James Bond film Licence to Kill (1989). He continued to appear in films throughout the early 1990s.

Becoming a Character Actor

Benicio's career really took off in 1995 with his role as Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects. He played a mumbling, funny crook. This role won him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. It also helped him become known as a strong "character actor," someone who plays interesting and unique roles.

He then got more important roles in both independent and big studio movies. He won another Independent Spirit Award for his role as Benny Dalmau in Basquiat (1996). He also acted alongside Robert De Niro in The Fan (1996).

For the 1998 movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Benicio gained over 40 pounds (about 18 kg) to play Dr. Gonzo. This movie, directed by Terry Gilliam, has become a cult classic.

Big Roles and Awards

The year 2000 was a huge year for Benicio del Toro. He starred in four films that helped him reach a wider audience. One of his most important roles was Javier Rodriguez in Steven Soderbergh's movie Traffic. In this film, he played a Mexican border policeman trying to stay honest. Benicio spoke most of his lines in Spanish. His performance was highly praised and won him many awards in 2001.

He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. He was the fourth living Oscar winner whose role was mostly in a non-English language. He was also the third Puerto Rican actor to win an Oscar. In his acceptance speech, he thanked the people of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora.

After Traffic, he had a small but memorable role as Franky Four Fingers in Snatch. He also appeared in The Pledge, directed by his friend Sean Penn.

In 2003, Benicio starred in The Hunted with Tommy Lee Jones. He also appeared in the drama 21 Grams with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. For 21 Grams, he received another Oscar nomination.

He later appeared in the movie Sin City (2005), based on a graphic novel.

Del Toro at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con

In 2008, Benicio del Toro won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival. This was for his portrayal of Che Guevara in the films The Argentine and Guerrilla, known together as Che. He also won the 2009 Goya Award for Best Actor for this role. For the final parts of the film, Benicio lost 35 pounds to show how ill Che Guevara became.

More Recent Films

In 2010, Benicio starred in and produced the remake of the classic film The Wolf Man. He also played The Collector in the Marvel Studios superhero film Thor: The Dark World (2013). He played this role again in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).

Del Toro at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival

In September 2015, Benicio played Alejandro Gillick in the movie Sicario. He played a former prosecutor seeking revenge. Critics highly praised his performance. He returned for the sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018).

In 2017, he played DJ in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. DJ was a character who betrayed others to save himself. In 2021, Benicio del Toro starred in the Wes Anderson film The French Dispatch.

Personal Life and Interests

Benicio del Toro has a daughter, born on August 21, 2011, with Kimberly Stewart. They had their daughter baptized in Puerto Rico.

In November 2011, he became a Spanish citizen. The Spanish government gave him citizenship because of his artistic talents and his Spanish family background. He has family in Barcelona.

In March 2012, he received an honorary degree from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. This was to recognize his impact on the film industry.

Helping the Environment

In 2003, Benicio del Toro became a spokesperson for "Yo Limpio a Puerto Rico." This is an environmental group that teaches people about recycling and protecting the environment in Puerto Rico. He also narrated a public service announcement about coral reefs, joining a campaign called "Artists to the Rescue of the Environment."

Filmography

Film

Television

Theme park attractions

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Benicio del Toro para niños

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